Finding a Hero
by kellsmarie
Summary: A single tear burned its path into the side of her cheek before falling to the pure white shirt he wore and forever leaving its mark, a tiny spot that somehow seemed to connect her to him. PostAWE Willabeth.
1. Prologue: Will You Save My Soul Tonight?

A/N: This takes place after At World's End, so you've been forewarned that this contains spoilers. I LOVED the third movie, more than either of its predecessors. And that's probably because I'm a huge fan of the Will/Elizabeth relationship. That being said, I feel like an absolutely idiot for not staying until the end of the credits last night and completely missing that last scene. In my defense, it was almost midnight by then and I had been fighting sleep off for most of the movie because I was so exhausted. So, this is my idea for a fourth movie, forget that scene at the end. Of course, it'll focus on the two characters I love most, so if you are a Sparrabeth fan, this isn't the fic for you. This one is more of an epilogue, leading up to the plot, so stick with me for now. I know it just seems like a lot of crying, but I can assure you there will be much more than that to this story. Hopefully, I won't disappoint. The title for the story and the title of this post both come from the song Hero by Enrique Iglesias. As always, please review if you are reading this, even if you don't care for it and think it absolutely sucks. It's always good to hear what people think. Thanks.

The first year was the hardest Elizabeth decided as she sat on the all too familiar expanse of beach, mulling over the last ten years of her life. Yes, that was definitely the worst one of all, especially the days that followed the sunset when she watched her husband leave her for what seemed like an eternity at the time. She would lay awake at night and go over all the possible ways she could end this state of depression and misery she had found herself so suddenly in. There was poison, slow and painful, mirroring the way her days felt for those first twelve months. A fall, resulting in a short and shocking death, too quickly to even know what she was doing or change her mind, just like when she had consented to Jack wrapping Will's limp hand around that knife aboard the Dutchman. A rope made of her own clothing and tied to her bed before she wrapped it around her own neck and then leaped as if to land on the floor would do the trick, faster than poison, but slower than a fall, a death that would seem tragic, just like her marriage. Or a knife through her heart, killing herself in the same way her love, Will Turner, had met his demise.

When she had returned to her home, people had been sympathetic towards her, but it wasn't because she had left Will so far behind for such a long time. Her father, the governor, had died and left no successor, with Elizabeth in Singapore at the time to no one's knowledge. A cousin she barely knew had taken over for the time being, but he was feeble-minded and fickle when it came to decision making. Before Elizabeth even knew what was happening, she had been named governess with the help of an advisor, Jonathon Greene.

For reasons unknown to even herself, he was the first person she told about her marriage, minus the ship full of pirates that had witnessed the actual event. Surprisingly, he was supportive of her and helped her make decisions dealing with that. The British weren't going to like it if their governess was married to a pirate, let alone the one who had replaced the Davy Jones. She was Elizabeth Turner only in the privacy of her bedchamber, still a part of the Swann legacy to everyone else she encountered. Jonathon would cover for her so she could still visit with Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa, but eventually even those few meetings ceased. It was too difficult to see those two living, breathing men right in front of her and know that her own love was gone. A man all three of them had cherished so dearly. And so, she lived in the confines of her quarters, meeting with people only when she had to, and having only Jonathon Greene as company.

The second year was easier and the third even easier still. Jonathon thought her to look as each day as another day closer to the day she would finally feel Will's lips against her own instead of seeing it as another day she must spend dreadfully alone. Each year became easier for her to get through, although she still kept to herself. And finally, in her thirty-second year, she was finally going to gaze upon Will Turner once again.

She didn't know it was possible to be so nervous until she had woken up a little bit before dawn that morning, finding the sky still pitch black. Instead of wearing her honey blonde hair piled on top of her head and a lavish gown like she wore so many other days, she opted this morning for a light, white dress with thin straps and just a thin layer underneath the sheer cotton and wore her hair down. She had made her way to the same beach she had last seen him ten years ago, she took refuge on the same rock, and she waited until she got her first glimpse of the golden rays that radiated from the east signaling his return to her.

It was then that her nerves got the best of her, her mind filled with questions she would never speak aloud. She played with her hair, pulled her knees up to her chest, and bit her bottom lip ever so slightly in the same manner a small child would. What if the Dutchman put a curse on all who sailed aboard? What if he didn't remember her? What if ten years apart had weakened his love for her? Or what if another woman on the ship had stolen his heart? Obviously, it could only be figuratively, she still held his heart, hiding it away for only her own eyes to see. But still… What if?

When she thought she truly would start to drive herself crazy, she caught the first glimpse of a broad sail, weathered and beaten by many battles at sea. It was then that she noticed the sun, a perfect half circle resting at the horizon, a golden crescent shape that made her heart beat faster and her breathing quicken. She tried not to get her hopes up, thinking that it could be another ship, but it wasn't long before she saw him on deck, she could never miss him. He hadn't changed at all, despite the fact that he was two years her senior, making him 34 now. She wondered if the Dutchman preserved youth, he was dead already, she remembered and immediately felt sick. Did immortality promise eternal youth in the small print? She didn't know.

She had so many questions for him as she stood up from where she had sat for so long, making her way to the shoreline and letting the cool water wash over her bare feet. But as he came her way, his face lighting up as soon as their eyes locked, she couldn't think a single thought. She couldn't say a single word. As he pulled her into his strong, masculine arms, she melted. As he whispered three small words in her ear, "I miss you…", a lump formed in her throat. And instead of responding and telling him that she had missed him as well, instead of asking him her millions of questions, instead of feeling his soft lips once again against her own, she cried. She buried her face into the soft material of his black shirt, and she cried like she had every night for 10 years, 120 months, 520 weeks, 3650 days, 5259488 minutes, 315569260 seconds. She let him hold her and let him try to sooth her. And despite the tears, the sobs, and the bittersweet day that lay ahead of them, she could honestly say she was happy.

"Oh, Will…" her voice broke the silence eventually, dripping with the lamentable feelings she was obviously experiencing. "I, I can't do this again… It's much too long a time to be away from you… And so much has happened…"

Will just gave her a small smile, placing a gentle finger to her lips as his other hand pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear before moving to slowly wipe away the tears that still lingered on her cheeks. His voice was soft, deep, and strong, exactly the way she remembered it. "Let's not worry about that now, Mrs. Turner… It's much too soon to dread an event that won't arrive for another 24 hours… We have to enjoy the time we do have."

Before she could speak again, argue and ask him how she could possibly think of anything else, he had pressed his lips to her own. It started as a soft, sweet, loving kiss that expressed the way he felt about her. His lips fit on hers like a glove, their feeling as familiar as a childhood toy. The kiss escalated as he moved one hand to her waist, tangling the other one in her luscious, long, beautiful hair. She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him pull her so close that he could feel her heart beating in his chest. But she didn't feel the same feeling, there was no reciprocation. And despite the fact that he was here again, and she was in the middle of the most passionate kiss of her life, she had to choke back a sob.

- - - -

Will Turner stared out of the window of the lavish home his wife now occupied, took in the view that she saw every morning, and then back to her, tangled in the pure white sheets of her bed, and he had to look away just as fast. It was midday by now at least, the sun already waning towards the west, and they both knew exactly what it meant. He would have had to be a fool to miss the dark circles that had rimmed Elizabeth's eyes when she greeted him, and her body had finally given in to that strong exhaustion once they had made love. He had come here to talk to her, she to do the same, but being away from a person for so long only made you want them that much more. With a desire that strong, they were incapable of fighting it off, and he wasn't regretting their decision at all. He didn't resent her for having fallen asleep afterwards. He only wished that a day was longer than a mere 1440 minutes. Because in reality, it was nothing at all.

She moaned softly, this time not in a dreamy subconscious manner, and he turned to watch her eyes flutter open slowly. She smiled softly as their eyes locked, and he responded in the same way before turning to look out the window once again. She slid on his shirt, the only item of his clothing he hadn't put back on, before coming up behind him and wrapping her arms loosely around his waist and resting her chin on his shoulder. He spoke in a whisper after a minute, his eyes still glued to the cobblestone streets beneath him. "You're in good hands, here with Jonathon…" She merely nodded, her arms wrapping tighter around his body. They both knew her response, being with Jonathon wasn't the same as being with him, but it wasn't spoken aloud. He hesitated a minute before speaking again, his voice slightly above a whisper, but wavering just slightly. "I've been talking to Jack…. From time to time, he'll have to do business with one of the men on my ship… He's trying to find the Fountain of Youth, and he says that Cascada, the maiden who has been cursed to forever guard the fountain, can restore a person to life…"

He had known that this wasn't going to go over so well, but when her arms fell away from him and he heard the bed creak as her weight landed on the edge, he turned around to find her face serious and her answer a no. She crossed her arms over her chest, and he had to fight not to smile, despite the circumstances. "Don't you think that Jack Sparrow has done enough for us? Don't forget he's the reason we were apart for so long, he really was the rift between us. And then he's the one who did this to you. He got you forever stuck on this damned ship, making us the ones to suffer for his wrongdoings."

Hearing the way she affronted his friend, his rebuttal was just as strong. "You cannot be serious, Elizabeth. Jack saved me, if it hadn't been for him, I really would be gone. He's the reason I can still come here."

"But he was the reason you were killed! He angered Davy Jones and he killed you!" Speaking the words aloud, her anger dissipated as she became the same broken, sobbing young woman she had been earlier.

Will sighed to himself as he sat down next to her, pulling her into his lap and rubbing her back soothingly as her breaths came in short gasps. He whispered softly in her ear in an attempt to calm her down, and once her sobs were quieter, he spoke. "I don't want to fight with you, not now when our time together is so limited. I just… I want you to think about it. It's risky, it might not work, but it's better than nothing. I can't stand to live like this, away from you for so long either, and I'm trying everything in my power to make it better. I want you to consider it as an option, okay?" Her small nod against his chest was all he needed to know.

- - - -

They sat in her bedroom for a long time before he spoke the words neither of them wanted to hear, saying that they needed to return to the beach. It was later than they expected when they returned, his father was already there waiting with the Dutchman. She held herself together as he kissed her one last time and promised to be back again in ten years. She watched until he was just a small speckle of black on the horizon, until he was gone completely, until night enveloped the land and the water, and her rock was half-submerged in the water. It was then that she finally left.

She felt empty when she entered her quiet quarters, Jonathon had already retired for the night, so she was all by herself. She changed out of her dress and into her nightgown, she turned out her lights, she turned down her covers, but she didn't get into the bed. Instead, she took the heavy iron chest and placed it on the floor below the window, letting the soft moonlight illuminate the room. Then, she pressed her ear to the cool, hard metal, listening for the sound of the heart within, the one true piece of her lover that she would never let herself lose. And as she sat there, trying to decide what was right and wrong, trying to decide if it was better to have loved than to never have loved at all, trying to decide if she and Will were meant to be or ill-fated, she let herself cry.


	2. Chapter 1: Loney Sea Beyond The Blue

A/N: Thank you so much for all of your reviews. However, I seem to have caused some confusion, so I'll try to clear as much of it as possible. I do realize that the movie alluded to the fact that Will would only have to serve on the ship for one ten-year period, but then how does he get his heart back? The movie also said the only way to replace the captain was to kill him, and that wasn't just referring to Davy Jones. At least, I didn't think so. So, until he is replaced, Will is stuck on that ship here. Elizabeth cannot be with him because he is supposed to ferry the souls of the dead to the next world and there's more explanation to that here. Just like before, please let me know if you're reading this, even if it is criticism. Thanks.

Two weeks had passed since he had felt the feeling of her bare skin against his own, two weeks since she had slept in his arms or kissed him so tenderly, two weeks since she had told him that she loved him. And much like before, he was aware of how utterly alone he was despite the crew of 45 pirates he was in charge of, one of whom was his own father. And not like before, he felt entirely and completely lost, like no one understood what it was like to be him except the one person he couldn't be with, and he wanted that feeling to go away more than anything else. He wanted to be able to look forward to the next time he would lay his eyes on his beautiful Elizabeth, whisper his deepest secrets into her ear, and hold her close, never letting go again. Instead, he only looked at this next time period as it if were black and white, with no gray area to make him hopeful. It would be another decade before Will Turner would finally see the love of his life again.

Rubbing the back of his neck distractedly, he looked back down to the map of the seas spread out on the tiny desk that occupied most of the empty space in his cramped quarters not taken up by his bed. If only there were a way to have Elizabeth beside him through all of this and not thousands of fathoms away on dry land. If only his love would be enough to make her a reality in front of him and not only an illusion of the mind. If only life were that simple. Interrupting his private counsel, his father knocked gently on the door, causing him to turn around, meeting his sympathetic smile. The old man moved slowly into the room, taking the unoccupied wooden chair that Will had haphazardly pushed away from the desk to stand in front of it. Both men were quiet for a moment longer before the elder spoke up, his voice raspy and soft with age. "I know you miss her, William, but it will only get easier."

Will shook his head, a bitter laugh rolling off his tongue before he had the chance to stop it. He finally glanced back at the older gentleman again, giving him an incredulous stare. "And how would you know? You didn't marry her only to get stuck here in this hell only minutes later. You didn't get to see her, hold her, touch her, talk to her, only to have it taken away just as fast. And you don't have to live with the reality that you being here, you being away from her, is hurting her more than she's ever been hurt before in her life. So don't tell me that it'll get easier because that's a lie and we both know it."

His eyes had glazed over and he was trying his hardest to swallow a lump in his throat the size of his fist when he finally dropped to the edge of his bed in defeat, cradling his head in his hands. What he had said was true, he did hate himself for letting this happen. He had hurt her when he had been forced to stay at sea for ten years at a time, he had hurt her by returning to her for those short few hours, and he hurt her again when he left, promising to return again, even though they both knew it wasn't enough. Knowing that he was the sole person responsible for this heartache that both of them felt so strongly was a burden that was becoming too strong for even him to bear.

The room remained silent for a minute as Bill Turner looked over the map, seeing the small notes that had been written in his son's scrawled handwriting within the margins. Sighing to himself, he looked back over at Will, his heart breaking for him. "I know this is hard for you and Elizabeth, Son, but this won't work. Taking a person who is so much alive and vibrant and sticking her on a ship destined to carry the newly dead, the despair would be too much for her, and you know it."

Will stood up from the bed, hitting his fist against the wall in his anger before pacing the small expanse of space between the two. "And what about me? What about it being too much for me to handle? This kills me, being away from her, having to see so many people who are no longer living. But it makes it okay because I'm dead, just like them, right?"

Bill beat stood up as well in such a hurry the wooden chair fell hard to the floor, the sound resonating for a long time before finally giving way to absolute silence. "You are not dead, William Turner, nor are you going to be for a long time. You've been put into an unfortunate predicament, but you have someone who loves you, someone who will wait for you, and someday when we figure this all out and get you out of this mess, Elizabeth will be there. You can't just give up like this, I won't let you, because we're going to put an end to this. We're going to get you off of this ship for good, and you're going to be able to spend the rest of your life with Elizabeth by your side. So do not, for even a minute, tell me that you're dead. Because you're a hell of a lot more lucky than those people you see every day."

Bill didn't wait for a response, he knew there wasn't one coming, as his son slowly sunk back down to his tiny twin-sized bed, sighing aloud once again. The sound of the door closing behind him reverberated in the cramped living space the so-called captain took refuge in on so many afternoons just like this, but his words stayed in his son's mind as well. Will Turner couldn't give up because it would mean he was admitting defeat, admitting that Davy Jones had truly become the victor and that Elizabeth was destined to forever be on her own, both facts that he could not face, not even in the best of circumstances.

The room was silent now, much too quiet for him or for anyone else as desperate as he to be alone in. There were nights when he had laid awake, waiting for the little comfort sleep provided him, a time when he could actually be with Elizabeth if only in his dreams, and he had thought about stabbing his own heart, taking his own life. That was before Jack had visited him and told him that it wouldn't result in anything else, seeing as the Flying Dutchman would still need a captain. It had also been when Jack Sparrow had given him hope, a hope that he never thought Elizabeth of all people would let him throw away.

Jack wasn't reliable, but for once in his life he had been sober when he had approached Will with an idea, light to spread on the bleak lifestyle he now practiced. His wife was the most supportive person he knew, but he also knew that she had been refusing to meet with Jack, attempts to contact her through his old friend had failed miserably. For a while he had blamed Jack and her new advisor, Jonathon whatever-his-name-was, but Jack told him that it really was Elizabeth who turned him away, and Jonathon in turn was the one to give him the small little details of her life to bring back to Will himself. He understood why she had turned him down, that she didn't want anything to do with the man who had torn them apart for good reason, and the plan was risky to say the least. If anything took just a millisecond too long, there would be no more 24-hour visits from Will, and she would find herself truly alone. Like he felt he was now.

He sighed to himself once again as he laid back on the bed, his hand rest on his hollow chest, rising and falling with every breath he took, but there was no steady rhythm behind his ribcage. There was no constant there, the driving force that had held him together, the part of him that had held her so close to him for so long, the part of him that was currently with her despite everything else. And as he closed his eyes, waiting for his dreams to take over, waiting to lay his eyes on her face if only for an hour, waiting to finally find a little solace, he wondered how his life had turned into the nightmare.

- - - -

A nightmare, that was all it was, she told herself as her clammy hands shook as she reached for the light that she knew was beside her bed. Her heart raced and she tried to catch her breath as her eyes scanned wildly around the perimeter of the room, not stopping until they landed on that thick, iron chest, and she felt somewhat relieved. She had forgotten about the dreams, how vivid and disturbing they had been in those first few months after he left aboard the Flying Dutchman. But now, a mere two weeks after he had returned to see, they had returned to her full force and left her in a cold sweat in the dark hours of the morning. They changed, varying slightly from one night to the next, but they always ended the same. Some were of things that had never happened and then there were ones like tonight that portrayed events from her life that hadn't ended so tragically the first time around.

This one was of that same tragic fight, when they had still been on the Black Pearl. Barbossa was marrying them begrudgingly, and she couldn't remember a time before now when she had been happier. It hadn't been her picturesque wedding, the one she had planned for a year only to have it ruined moments before the ceremony. It hadn't been deeply romantic in most people's eyes, nor was it conventional in any sense, but it was all theirs, a memory she would always have to cherish, no matter how many years had passed. But in the dream, death hadn't been a fear for Will but a reality. Just as he pulled her close to him, giving her the most passionate kiss she had ever experienced, his face contorted into pain and he let out a gasp, as if all the air had just fled out of his lungs.

Her eyes traveled downwards to his abdomen, seeing the small sharp metallic point of a sword before it was withdrawn just as quickly, making a sickening sound that made her want to vomit and causing Will to collapse to his knees, pulling her down with him. His hands hovered just above the hole in his torso, the crimson liquid staining the pure white of his shirt and flowing onto the deck to mix with both the rain and the saltwater that had risen up in the great waves to make the wooden floor slick. There was no other sound around her but her hollow sobs as she cradled his head close to her chest, her beating heart the only sound he heard in his last few moments. The fighting did not cease around them, but she didn't notice, too caught up in Will and her desire to change things, to let herself be the one to die right now instead of him. And for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why she felt lost, wounded, as if she were gasping for air, when he was the one who was dying right before her eyes.

It was then that she had jolted awake, the sound of a thunderstorm approaching rattling her bedroom windows. Turning on the light, she got her first glimpse of the pale gray sky, hinting at a storm as well as the dawn, if the sun was able to be seen at all today. Rubbing a hand over her tired eyes, she realized for the first time that she had been crying in her sleep, and for just a moment, she felt ashamed, worried that her cries and sobs in her sleep had been audible elsewhere in the mansion. Seeing as Jonathon hadn't come to check on her, she was pretty sure that he hadn't and her embarrassment faded away. She was struck again with the oddity that a person could cry without realizing it, a feeling she had never felt before Will's death.

A knock on the door broke her train of thought, and she realized then that her throat still felt raw from crying, even if she couldn't remember doing so. Not trusting her voice, she gasped softly as the bottoms of her bare feet connected with the hard wooden floor of her bedroom and the cool night breeze blowing in through her window met her bare arms. She made her way slowly to the door, not surprised in the least to find Jonathon waiting on the other side. "Miss Swann, I hope I haven't woken you at such an early hour, but I'm hoping that you will permit me entry to your bedchamber. I would like to have a word with you in private."

Elizabeth nodded dazedly, closing the door behind him as he slipped into the room. Jonathon seemed lost at first, with her only clad in her nightgown and her bed still unmade. It wasn't often that he had come to her this early, and never had he been in her room at a time like this. She was at a loss for words as well, so she was relieved when he finally spoke again, but his first phrase, the one that Will had uttered so many times early on in their relationship, broke her heart. "My fair Elizabeth, you seem to have a visitor who demands he meet with you immediately. He wishes to meet with you at the port as well, not wanting to cause a scene here."

"I'm sorry, but you can return to Mr. Sparrow, and tell him that I do not wish to speak with him now or ever again. I apologize for his waking you up so early in the morning, and I will do anything I can to make it up to you." With that, Elizabeth had turned around, her short and concise response enough by her standards, but it wasn't the same for him. Taking a step closer to her as she began to make her own bed for one of the first times in her life only to busy herself, he pressed on, his voice still just as strong and steady.

"I'm not sure you understand, _Mrs. Turner_. Mr. Sparrow assured me that it was a Will Turner who sent him here to talk to you, and he thinks that it's very important that you listen to what he has to say." He watched as she shook her head, placing one of the delicate white lace pillows back on her bed, never turning to face him at all. After another deafening silence, he cleared his throat, causing her to finally look his way. "As your advisor, Miss Elizabeth, I must say that I think it is in your best interest to hear the man out before you decide to cut ties with him. He may just be able to help you more than I can."

Giving her a small wink of his right eye, Jonathon slipped out of the room just as quietly as he had come, alluding to the fact that no one else knew that he was awake with her at this hour. Elizabeth ran a hand through her tousled hair as she looked out the window, catching the smallest glimpse of the pure blue waters over the roofs of the other houses on the street, biting her lip subconsciously. Jack Sparrow was the last person she wanted to see, but saying that she hadn't been thinking about what Will had said was a lie, a lie she wasn't going to admit to anyone. Instead of wallowing in her quarters like she did so many other days, she decided to take action this time.

She pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail, not bothering to brush it first. She wasn't about to take the time to impress Jack, not after the pain he had caused her. She pulled on a pair of pants, one of the few she had kept from her pirating days and the same black shirt Will had left in her care before leaving for another ten years. She hesitated a minute longer before slipping out of her room and down the stairs as quietly as possible, trying to convince herself that she was doing the right thing all the while.

Her bare feet felt much too soft against the hard cobblestone street and she hurried quickly to the only port she had ever been to in the company of Jack Sparrow, not surprised at all to find him talking to himself and flailing his arms around as he walked up and down the wooden dock. Her footsteps were soft, and it wasn't until he actually turned around to meet her eyes that he noticed her there at all. His same sly grin spread across his face, and she wasn't sure if she was going to be sick or if she was going to cry. He didn't give her a chance to react at all as he walked quickly to her, placing his hands in a loving manner on her arms. "Elizabeth Turner. I was afraid my eyes would never taken in your beautiful figure again…" As he took her small hand and raise it to his lips, she quickly yanked it away and crossed her own arms over her chest.

"Unlike you, Jack, I do have a purpose to my life now and people will both care and notice if I'm suddenly missing. Can you please just tell me what Will wants?" As Jack leaned in closer, wrapping an arm around her waist, she smelled the alcohol on his breath, and now she was sure that she was going to be sick, she could only pray it wouldn't be until she was safely in the confines of her own bedroom again. He raised a rough calloused hand to caress her cheek and she closed her eyes quickly, her tears falling before she had a chance to react. It wasn't Will's strong yet soft hands, it wasn't going to be his ever again, she found herself thinking.

"Oh, you're not going to let me enjoy my fantasies a while longer? You're not going to let me believe that you came to me because you want me in a way that no lady should ever want a pirate?" Elizabeth shook her head feverishly, and her sadness was perceptible from her dark brown eyes the minute she opened them again.

Before Jack had the chance to go on, she was firing back a bitter response, not holding her tongue. "I would never come to you for a physical desire if you were the last man on earth, Jack Sparrow." He gave a hearty laugh, but her face only contorted in utter disgust. "You're completely drunk."

Again, Jack laughed as he stepped away, spinning around before facing her again, that same haunting smile on his face. "I know, Darling. You can believe me when I say that I wouldn't be having this conversation with you while sober." She wasn't able to enjoy the irony in his statement, that many people wouldn't be having a conversation this life-altering with another person unless they were completely sober. He followed suit as she sat down on the edge of the dock, letting just the tips of her toes brush against the water's surface as she waited for whatever he was going to say. Another minute of awkward silence surrounded them before he finally decided on a way to approach the subject. "Will feels like he's living in his own private hell right now, and I don't blame him. And I've been working on it, trying to find a way to the Fountain of Youth so I can remain this gorgeous to you forever, and I'm pretty sure that once Cascada lays her eyes on me, she'll be consenting to whatever I may need.'"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes in disgust as she pulled her feet out of the water and up onto the dock, wrapping her arms around her knees before resting her chin on top of them. Jack didn't say anything else as he pulled a flask out from his breast pocket and raising it to his lips, letting the bitter burning liquid one its course down his raw throat. It was a minute before she spoke, and a fresh wave of tears had already come to rest in the corners of her eyes by the time she did. "It's so risky, Jack… I would rather see Will once a decade than never again… I don't think… No, I know I couldn't handle being in that situation."

Jack got to his feet, wavering slightly as he did so, the alcohol definitely having an effect on him by now. His voice was harsh when he started, but Elizabeth swore she saw a flash of compassion in his deep eyes before he spoke to her. "But our Will is miserable. By the time another ten years passes, there may be no Will left. Having a life is one thing, but having a desire to live is a completely different thing. And he's starting to lose the latter, even with the promise of seeing you again."

Elizabeth was struck by the heart-felt speech he had just delivered, and she couldn't respond right away. The wind blew the few strand pieces of her hair away from her face as her eyes stayed glued to the reflection of the moon in the deep aqua-colored waves, her salty tears rolling down her cheeks. Jack didn't think she was going to respond at all, but when he was about to turn around, get back into his tiny rowboat and leave, she shook her head slowly in response. "You're wrong, Jack. They're not two separate things, they are one in the same. Will is my life, and he's what I live for. I don't know how I would get through a single day if I couldn't dream of the day when I would feel his arms around me again. And if something goes wrong, what happens to me?" Her eyes pleaded with him to give her all the answers when she looked back up at him, to assure her that there was no negative in the situation, but he just looked back down to her feet, not even offering a sarcastic remark. She shook her head again as she stared back out at the water, her voice just a thin whisper. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to tell Will that I can't let him do this."

Her eyes stayed glued to the swaying surface of the water beneath her, she seemed despondent and not so lucid anymore, and it scared Jack for a minute. "Very well, Elizabeth. I guess I'll just send poor William your love…" And with that, he disappeared into the night, the faint sound of oars against the water the only remnant of his presence.

Elizabeth moved to lay down, pressing her face to the wooden planks so she could hear the waves move right beneath her, feel the smallest spray against her cheek through the tiny slits. She used to love the sea, it was the one place where she felt most comfortable. But the sea had taken away Will, her Will, and it wasn't going to let her have him back. By now, she couldn't cry anymore, there were no more tears for her to shed. And as the sun rose, a sun that wasn't followed by a green flash that meant anything to her, a sun that signaled another day alone, she only wished that just like the night, her living nightmare would soon come to an end.


	3. Chapter 2: Don't Keep Your Distance

A/N: I can't stop writing this and I don't want to stop writing this. So, I'll keep writing it until I figure out whatever the hell I'm going to do with any of my other many fics. So, basically, if you read this, you're in luck. And if anyone can help me out, I would very much appreciate it. Last time I checked, a fourth movie was a possibility, all three major actors (Johnny, Orlando, Keira) willing to do it if the script was strong enough. Now, I heard from a friend that they don't want Orlando back, that Will is dead for sure. Is this true? Please tell me it's not… lol As always, I love to hear what you think about my writing. Thanks.

Harsh rays from the afternoon sun drifted into her room from the long bay windows facing the streets below, but it wasn't what woke her up, nor was it the current nightmare of the night, one in which Will had not met his match yet, but she could sense it on the horizon. No, this time it was a slow, steady knock on her bedroom door that aroused her from her sleep, and she was certainly annoyed already with whoever was on the other side of that door. Moaning softly to herself, she let her eyes flutter open slowly, letting the filtering sunlight come into view a little bit at a time before finally moving off of the bed to answer the door. There were very few people who would disturb her when she was alone in her bedroom, for fear of what she did not know, but it also meant that she knew exactly who was on the other side of the heavy oak door, and it was the last person she wanted to see in that moment: Jonathon Greene.

While he had been a friend, a confidante, a shoulder to lean on every so often the first time around, this time seemed so much different, now 10 weeks since Will had left, barely over two months into the first year. Maybe it was the fact that she was trying to harbor a secret from him at the time, her biggest secret yet and one that she wanted so desperately to confide in someone. But there was only one person she wanted to tell, and it was not Jonathon, that much she was sure of. She had been avoiding him lately, taking naps in the afternoon to "clear her mind", taking walks late at night to "have time to herself", but both of those were lies. She was sleeping in the afternoons because she wasn't sleeping at night, too busy frequenting the places she knew the crew of the Black Pearl could always be found in. She wasn't taking walks late at night, she was planning her next move, making sure that her current endeavor was fool-proof and wouldn't fall through. And she was avoiding Jonathon.

Sighing to herself, she smoothed out the fine creases in her dress and brought a hand to her hair, taking out the two pins holding it up and letting it fall down her back in golden waves. She glanced back at that iron chest one more time, as if this small part of him would be able to offer her comfort when she was feeling so alone, and then she finally opened the door, finding Jonathon just as agitated as she thought he might be. He showed his annoyance towards her as he took the lead this time, stepping into her bedroom and slamming the door behind him in an effort to make her fear his presence, but it only fueled her frustration. She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, glaring right back at him as she waited for whatever declaration he might make. Her wait wasn't long at all as he quickly began to talk, pacing the length of the room all the while. "Miss Swann, I do hope you realize what time it is. And I do hope that you know you were due to attend a meeting with the Duke's son exactly one hour ago. And I do hope that you can tell that you are not where you need to be at the moment."

Elizabeth's small hands curled into tiny fists as she moved them to her sides, taking a deep, calming breath to keep from doing anything irrational, her eyes never straying from his cold, hard gaze. His first mistake was in calling her Miss Swann, a name he knew she no longer took with the honor and esteem it once held. She was a Turner, and she would proudly bear that name any day, a thought that had recently been causing her to think of rebelling against Jonathon's orders to refrain from telling the townspeople exactly who she is. She was a grown woman who could make her own decisions in her own time, and just who was she helping by living this immense lie? She inhaled once more, hesitating just long enough to watch him start to fidget out of pure agitation before venturing into her own monologue. "Why, Jonathon, I thought you realized when I told you this morning that I was feeling ill, I meant that I was not going to meet with anyone for the day. I was resting in my own privacy in hopes of restoring my health so I can fill the position of governess that the people so willingly handed me, and you so rudely interrupted me. Are you positively sure that I am the one who has made such a dreadful mistake?"

She watched in delight as his cheeks turned a fair scarlet color, matching the fine line of his jacket's interior layer that she could just barely see. He appeared to be extremely uncomfortable for a moment before regaining his composure and staring her down to no avail once again. What she said hadn't been a lie at all, whether it was from being tired or from truly being ill, she wasn't quite sure, but she hadn't been feeling well that morning and she had told him that. His simmering anger wasn't letting him think of that as his breath came in short gasps, his teeth gritted hard as if in pain. "I will have you know, Elizabeth, that the Duke is looking to take a wife and now it seems that the opportunity has passed and your chance is forever gone because of this sudden illness."

Elizabeth's mouth opened in a small o-shape as she took in what he had said, her eyes widening in a mixture of shock, panic, and anger as she looked back at him, not sure when this change in his personality had taken affect. "Have you forgotten that I am married!? I have been made a wife by William Turner, he is my husband, and nothing you or anyone else says or does will change that!"

Before she knew what was happening, Jonathon had crossed the distance of the room and clamped a hand tightly over her mouth, moving with such force that her back hit the wall behind her, rattling the small table beside her and causing her to bite her tongue. His voice was a stern, menacing whisper as he leaned in close to her, the heat of his breath against her face making her nauseous. "Have _you_ forgotten that you promised to keep that marriage a secret? You're not as young as you once were, Elizabeth, and people talk. If you ever had the dignity to leave this room, you would know that, but I must be your eyes and ears for you, since you have proven to be only meek and feeble on your own. To the rest of this world, you are Miss Swann, you are loveless, and there is no William Turner who is not deceased, just like his father."

Elizabeth bit the soft flesh of the palm of his weathered hand just slightly, causing him to pull it off quickly and giving her the advantage as she grabbed both of his wrists and turned him around, his cheek firmly against the wall. "Will is not dead, and neither am I. We have every right to be together now, and another decade from now, and nothing that you say will make me feel any differently about my husband. You must also remember, Jonathon, that he is a pirate, as am I, and a pirate always gets what she wants."

Holding onto his wrists for a second longer than necessary, she finally pulled her own hands away to allow him to move freely, backing away from him in case he decided to lash out again. He looked flustered, an imprint left on his cheek from the wall, and she let herself relax a little as he moved to the door, hesitating while his hand was wrapped around the brass knob. "Very well, Miss Swann. But when you find that your dear Will does not choose this lifestyle for himself because he does not belong as you or I, you may want to change your mind." His eyes flickered from her face, with it's cold, emotionless expression, to the iron chest residing on her nightstand, and as she felt herself panic for a minute before recomposing herself, she swore that she saw the tiniest snide smile on his lips.

She was left alone again as he let the door close gently behind him, as if their conversation that had lasted a mere seven minutes had set everything right in the world. She did not let her tired frame drop back down to the bed, nor did she break down into the tears she so badly wanted to cry in that moment. She had been a broken woman in these past few months, the past ten years if she was truly honest with herself, and maybe this had been a weakness in his eyes, a weakness he thought gave him an advantage over her. Maybe it had been the many tears she had shed over the past ten years, two months, two weeks, and for days, that made her seem weak in his eyes. She wasn't the same Elizabeth that she had been before, the strong, fearless captain who never held back her tongue, but she wasn't that same courageous leader before Will became a part of her life either. He had always been the one to make her feel that confident, as if she were in control of every aspect of her life, and without him, she was starting to feel like she was losing herself just as much as she was losing him.

Once she could no longer hear Jonathon's, retreating footsteps, she moved away from that same spot near her bed, letting her blonde hair fall over her shoulders as she knelt in front of the bottom drawers of her bureau. Searching through the middle drawer's interior, she did not stop until her fingertips touched a familiar expanse of worn material. She grasped it firmly and pulled it out from the depths of the drawer, feeling content when she finally was able to see its dark black color. She kept the shirt hidden from everyone, not wanting it to be washing so it no longer contained the faint scent that was the perfect mixture of the sea and Will.

She quickly pulled the string hanging down just above her waist on the back of her dress, letting the corset-like back open completely. She quickly slipped out of it as well as the many slip-dresses she wore underneath before sliding the shirt on over her shoulders and taking her time with each button, as if the shirt may perish in her hands at any moment. She put her pants on as well, feeling better even then, with the familiar fabric covering her bare skin, and then stuck one of the hair pins between her teeth as she used her hands to pull a small section of hair from each side of her face before pinning it into place to perfectly frame her face. She slid her feet into her nearest pair of plain black shoes, and glanced once more in the mirror, smoothing out the front of her shirt and tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Satisfied with her appearance, she finally moved to hover next to her door, listening to whatever sounds were being made in the hallway right outside her room.

If Jonathon knew her schedule by memory, she in turn knew his own like the back of her hand. By this time in the afternoon, he would be enjoying his tea in the gardens, most afternoons with her there as well, had it not been for their latest argument. Thinking about the phrases he had said to her, the menacing glare he gave her as he held her steadfast to the wall, the way his eyes flickered just slightly to rest on the iron chest that held Will's heart, made her shiver once again, surprised by how suddenly she had learned to fear this man that she had let guide her for so long. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind of those few moments, letting her hand rest on the door a minute longer before coming to the conclusion that there was no one waiting for her on the other side, muttering under their breath about the fight that had just occurred, or trying to find the right way to tell Elizabeth she was being unreasonable, which she was sure she wasn't. Once she was finally satisfied with the notion that the corridor was empty, she slipped out of her room, closing the door gently behind her to make it seem like she was still sleeping peacefully, and then she made her way out of the mansion.

Everything seemed so clear to her now as she walked briskly in the direction of the harbor and the many attractions that lay in its berth. She could do this, and she would do this, she was a Turner for god's sake. She was a pirate when it came right down to the facts. If anyone was going to get her beloved Will back, it would be her and only her. She would entrust the other two people that she trusted the most, Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa. She would put her personal feelings of hatred for both the men that she had felt at separate times during her life, and she would let them accompany her in her mission to hold her husband in her arms again. They had somehow gotten Jack Sparrow back, after he had been presumed dead for almost a year, and he had been at the bottom of Davy Jones' locker. And that's when she felt that same sickening weight in her stomach, making her want to vomit right there, feet away from the small building she knew she would find both men in. Wouldn't it be Will Turner's locker now?

Suddenly, everything came back in a rush to her, every vivid memory she had of him making her knees quake until she finally lowered herself down to sit on the floor against the wall right inside the door. _I should have told you from the moment I met you… I love you. _His voice rung in her ears, she felt as if she could see his lips moving just a few feet away from her, could feel her heart race in that same way, the butterflies fill the pit of her stomach. Before she could stop herself, she had gone from the first time he had trusted her with his heart, handing it to her in a much more figurative way, to the last time she had seen him on that beach. From the way he gently caressed her knee as he pulled the boot away, to the way his lips lingered on her skin. She could see the pain that clouded his vision as they both spotted the Flying Dutchman in the distance, and she could feel herself choke up as she remembered what he had said to her on that occasion. _It has always belonged to you. Will you keep it safe? _

Tears glazed her eyes now, but instead of letting the weak, miserable, deeply depressed Elizabeth have her way, she instead merely wiped them away before getting back up to her feet all on her own, not accepting the hands of any of the eager men around her. If anything, her bittersweet memories of Will Turner had only fueled her desire to win him back, go to the ends of the world and the depths of the see to feel his lips against her bare skin one more time. She took a moment to recollect herself, gently rubbing at the corners of her still moist eyes and pushing her hair back to rest behind her shoulders. This wasn't an easy task, but if she faced it head on and didn't let herself get discouraged, she was sure that she could overcome this as well.

Elizabeth held her head high as she made her way through the crowded room to the smaller darker less-inviting adjacent room, the one where she found both Jack and Barbossa residing at a small table hidden away in a corner. Her strides were long and purposeful as she approached them, her expression one of little emotion, despite the excitement, nervousness, and small amount of sadness that were still overwhelming her on the inside. When she came to rest beside their table, she crossed her arms over her chest, more for comfort and closeness than to look important, but the small gesture caught Barbossa's eye. The old man's face did not change, but she saw the flicker of recognition and then one of almost joy pass through his stoic eyes before he spoke to her, his voice soft and tired, yet harsh around the edges, just the way she remembered it. "Elizabeth Turner, it feels like it has been an eternity. I didn't think I would live to see the day I saw your pretty little face again. How are you, child?"

Instead of letting herself dwell on the kindness of his statements, the irony of the situation, coming to him yet again for help, or to respond with the same measure of care and concern, she instead took the seat between himself and Jack at the table, resting her elbows on its surface as she took a deep calming breath before beginning to speak. "I would love to catch up with the both of you, but that's not what I'm here for. You see, it has just come to my attention that I am still a pirate lord, seeing as there is no replacement yet in Singapore. In fact, I'm still the damn pirate king. And being that I am one of the nine great rulers of the sea, I'm not going to let it rule me any longer. I'm not going to wait another ten years before I see Will again, and I'm going to do something about it. I'm not asking you for your help, I'm demanding that you do as I say, for just this once more. I'm going to need the Black Pearl and it's crew, as well as you two gentlemen to help me. And I'm not taking no for an answer, not this time."

There was an eerie silence that followed her tiny speech, one that made her bite her bottom lip just slightly as she waited on edge for whatever response they may have. She watched intently as they both stared at her before looking at each other, and then once again at her. She sunk back in her chair as Jack got to his feet, and she assumed the worst, that he was just going to walk away and let her know that it couldn't be done. But she saw that same cocky grin cover his face instead and she felt his strong, weathered hand clamp down on her shoulder a little too hard. Looking into his eyes, she could see that he recognized the same changes in her that she herself had seen, and she let herself get the slightest bit hopeful even before he spoke, his words seeming to put a bandage on her broken heart, a temporary mend for a wound only one person in this world could fix. But, like everything else in her life, it was a start." Elizabeth Turner, welcome back."


	4. Chapter 3: Things I'll Never Say

A/N: Again, I'm absolutely amazed by the reviews I've been getting, especially with this being my first POTC fan fiction. This is going to be short because I'm procrastinating studying for finals to make plans to go see At World's End again tomorrow, so I apologize for my bluntness. I promise that there will be more of Will very soon. I always love to hear what you think, so let me know, good or bad. Thanks.

The cool salty morning breeze was a welcomed feeling on her face and bare arms, the day surprisingly warm despite the immense fog surrounding the ship on all sides. The feeling of being back at sea, back on the Black Pearl itself was a bittersweet one, making her comfortable as if she were finally back home, but making her heart ache for Will, the whole reason for her return to the sea, at the same time. It had been a spontaneous decision to leave without telling a soul the evening before, an idea brought up by Jack and quickly agreed upon by Barbossa. They sat at the same table in the poorly lit room as the afternoon passed by, turning into dusk and then dusk in turn to night. Elizabeth assured both the men that by this hour Jonathon would surely be asleep, explaining to them that he kept himself to the same tight schedule, and listening as they snickered when she said that he had kept her to a similar one. She slipped back into the mansion only long enough to retrieve clothing and the chest itself, an object she was sure would be needed for any rescue mission to be successful, and then she left with them for the Black Pearl.

She had been exhausted by the time she was settled into one of the only empty rooms left below deck, so Barbossa merely told her that they would stay in the harbor for the evening, and she should retire to her room for the night and they would discuss her plan in the morning. Now, she finally felt ready to confide in the seasoned pirate, but storm clouds just visible on the horizon made leaving that day almost impossible already. Sailing into a storm was one thing, but leaving into the eye of one was another completely different situation, one that not even the most seasoned captain would put himself in.

Sighing to herself, she placed her elbows on the railing that ran along the ship's edges, resting her chin against her palms as she stared out at the sea, rocking with each gust of wind beneath her. They were moving now, not fast or in any particular direction, but they were moving all the same. And watching the water rise and fall, mirroring the movements of the ship, she found it hard to believe that they weren't already letting the sea lead them where it may. Whether it was the rocking of the ship, the humid morning air, the fear of what she was about to do, a combination of the above, or something completely different, she suddenly felt that familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach. She stood back up a little too quickly and soon found herself emptying the contents of her stomach over the side of the boat, her entire body heaving as she felt her cheeks flush.

She had always been able to handle the sea, seas much rougher than this, and yet here she was, acting as if she had never set foot on a ship before. She remembered the last time she had been sick like this, shortly after she had chosen Will over James Norrington, much to her father's dismay. They had gone out for the day on one of the ships her father owned, a crew provided for them to Will's disappointment who had wanted it to be an intimate affair consisting of just the two of them. A storm had trapped them a few miles away overnight, and the ship tossed and turned for hours on end, much worse than the current conditions. When she thought she was completely alone, she had finally let herself get sick, but it wasn't long before she felt the feeling of his warm, strong hands pull her hair away from her clammy face, and let him wrap his arm around her waist and lead her back to sit down on the floor in the corner. She didn't realize that the clear memory consuming all her thoughts now was making her cry until her bitter salty tears reached her chapped lips.

As she gently wiped at her eyes, her body still shaking and her stomach still heaving enough to make her slightly uncomfortable, she felt a hand on her back, gently pulling her back to stand straight again. She was met with a sympathetic smile from Barbossa as he led her away from the edge of the ship and the taunting waters below to slowly walk towards the door leading to the lower levels of the ship. "It looks like you need some time to get your sea legs back, Mrs. Turner."

He gave a hearty laugh as he opened the door, holding it for her to pass through as well. She offered him a weak smile and a slight nod in response, moving to stand at the bottom of the stairs and waiting for the elderly gentleman to join her there. "Yes, I guess that's true. It has been an awfully long time that I've been away."

"Oh, I don't know if I would say that… I'd give it another week or so, and I think you'll be just fine aboard me ship. Don't you agree, Elizabeth?" She felt her stomach drop again, unsure she wanted to acknowledge this statement at all. She felt her own fear rise in herself as she thought over what he said in her mind, wondering how she could've been so stupid to think otherwise. Of course this journey would take longer than a week, it would take at least a few months, but after the first few steps were carried out, how long did Will really have? She tried not to think about it as she let him lead her back to the main quarters, helping her into a seat at the table in the center of the room where Jack was already looking out at the water's edge right outside the window, a sight that made her stomach flip flop again. She quickly looked back down to her hands folded in her lap instead, taking the small time to reflect on the dates that had passed, just how long it had been since Will had come to visit her, just how long they had truly been apart, if it was possible for him to be as miserable as Jack had portrayed him to be.

Snapping her back to the events of the moment, Jack cleared his throat and turned around with a flourish of his hand, walking the length of the room in his familiar slightly skipping manner that only he could truly pull of. While Barbossa had taken the seat adjacent to her at the table, Jack himself gave her a cocky grin from where he was standing in the corner, making no motion to edge a little closer to her as he spoke. "Elizabeth, love, I finally have you in my company again, and I have been waiting breathlessly to hear your sweet little plan to bring dear William back from the dead…" His voice trailed off as he side-stepped a lone boot that had somehow been forgotten on the floor, stopping once he reached the table. He leaned forward and supported his weight with his hands firmly against the surface, staring straight into her big brown eyes. "So, please. Do tell."

Normally, a similar act pulled by Jack Sparrow would result in her frustration and retaliation of sorts as she responded in a tone dripping with sarcasm. This time, however, was different as her teeth just barely grazed her bottom lip, looking instead to Barbossa and receiving a small nod in response, edging her own. She had never been this nervous around the two familiar men, but something about the topic they were discussing made her leery, fearing they would reject her plan altogether. "Well… I thought that we could go and get Will to start with, I want to make sure that he still is willing to try Jack's plan… And then we would have to find Cascada's location…"

Jack hit his open palm against the table, causing her to jump in his chair as he slid into one of the remaining empty ones, shaking his head from side to side in an overly dramatic manner. "No, darling, that's no place to start. I know all that already, it was my preparation to begin with, or have you already forgotten? No, what I want to know is what made you _decide _to finally listen to the only person who is right in this whole bloody mess?"

Elizabeth ignored the cocky air to his last statement, letting her eyes fall to her hands still folded in her lap instead. Her reasoning for this decision had resulted in the deterioration of her platonic relationship with Jonathon Greene, it had convinced her that she needed Will back more than anything, and it had led her to this moment right now. She had promised herself that night when she couldn't sleep, her mind restless, that Will would be the one and only person she would confide in. No one else had to know until then, not even Jack and Barbossa, the only other people she seemed to be able to trust in her life. She gave him a sickly sweet smile as she met his hard gaze again, concurring with a snide remark of her own. "If I told you that I would have to kill you after confiding in me, would you still want to know my reasoning with such a strong desire?"

Jack's gaze floated upwards, even with a spot on the wall inches above her head, as he tapped his index finger against his closed lips in thought for a moment longer before shaking his head in response. "Yes, I would. You've already killed me once, and look at how well that turned out."

She gave a bitter laugh as she stood up from the table, leaning forward and glaring right back at him in the same menacing manner he had only moments before. She gritted her teeth as she spoke to him, feeling her anger grow with each passing second. "The only reason that you're still around is because I took the time to come back for you." Elizabeth watched as he merely nodded in response, standing up as well. He brought his hand to rest on her cheek again, giving her a smile that made her feel ill once again.

"I know, love. We both know that you cannot resist my charm." Her face contorted into a scowl as she removed his rough hand from her face before straightening and crossing her arms over her chest. Her response was harsh and bitter, and it had left her mouth before she could think of the consequences it may bring of the pain it may cause Jack himself, although, she had never really seen him as having any feelings at all before.

"The only reason I brought you back was so I could be with Will, and I've regretted that decision everyday since then. We may never have reconciled if it hadn't been for you, but he wouldn't be dead and trapped on the Flying Dutchman either." Hearing her own words resonating in her ears, the color drained from her face and her knees buckled once again, having confessed the feelings she had felt for so long aloud to someone other than Will. She lowered her shaking body back into the chair at the same instant that Barbossa rose to his feet, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, his gaze firmly on Jack all the while.

The animosity that now filled the room seemed to be almost suffocating to all three of the people involved, a feeling that none of them found comforting in the least. Captain Barbossa's hand lingered on her shoulder a little longer than necessary as he spoke directly to both of them, his voice stern and serious. "Now, now, now. This is nothing to get yerselves this upset about. Elizabeth can keep her reasoning to herself, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. She's entitled to her own opinion, doesn't mean you have to agree, Jack." Off a nod and a dramatic sigh from the other gentleman, he turned once again to the young woman, his eyes softening around the edges as he looked down upon her. "Mrs. Turner, if you would be so kind, could ye please tell myself and Jack here how ye plan to get Will back from the clutches of the Dutchman."

Elizabeth nodded solemnly, feeling just as lost and small as she had when she had first sat down at the table, her anger from before replaced with pure shame, embarrassed by the things she had uttered aloud. Her voice was stronger this time, and it held a pleading tone to it, as if her desire for this to work out perfectly was laced through her every word. "I want to talk to William first, as I said before. They say that there must be a captain for the Flying Dutchman, but I've checked, and nowhere does it say that Will is not aloud to leave if he has a substitute command the ship in his absence. I don't see why Mr. Turner wouldn't have a problem taking over for the time being. And Jack, he's been hiding your charts, he knows how to get to the Fountain of Youth. If we have Will, his heart, and Cascada in the same place, I don't see why an attempt to give the ship a new captain and restore Will's mortality would fail."

Silence followed her quiet voice, a sound even more unnerving than the sound the sword had made as it was pulled from Will's lifeless body she decided after another moment suffering under their harsh gazes. After a while longer, Barbossa finally nodded in response as he offered a hand to help her back to her feet, which she gratefully accepted once again. "Very well, Elizabeth. I can't see Bootstrap having a problem with that arrangement either, but me thinks it would be best if Jack and I had a moment to discuss this together properly. It's been an emotional discussion for ye as well, so ye can return to yer quarters now."

She gave a grateful nod, stealing a small glance at Jack in the corner who was now picking at a cuticle on his left hand and didn't seemed phased at all by what she had said so carelessly to him. Before she had the chance to say a word to him, utter an apology or scream and yell at him to find out why she hadn't affected him in the least, Captain Barbossa was escorting her to the door and giving her a small smile before closing it, and she was left alone. She walked the short distance back to her tiny room with her head hung low, studying her feet as if they too would lead her straight to Will if she concentrated hard enough. She closed the door to her room behind her and took refuge on the small bed against one wall, trying to ignore the sounds of the upper deck as she laid her head down, her hands resting beneath her cheek.

The small room was not lavish, nor was it anything like what she would have selected her bedroom to be like, but it made her feel safer than she had since the day Will had left her the first time. The Black Pearl was a familiar place, even if she no longer wanted it to be, and it would be the only place she could call home until she was back in his arms. She tried not to think about the conversation going on in a closed room down the hall or the many months that would come and pass before she could finally call William Turner a free man, but she was making an effort, and that had to count for something. She shut her eyes tightly as she willed herself to sleep, if only for a few moments, succumbing to the newest nightmare before she woke up screaming in a cold sweat. Before she had to wonder if the line between reality and her nightmares was just blurred beyond recognition or if it had ever existed at all.


	5. Chapter 4: Now Comes The Night

A/N: What else was I supposed to write after seeing the movie a second time? Not to mention, seeing it again has given this story a completely different direction. If any of my readers happen to live in the Savannah area, not only am I completely jealous, but a famous ghost story will supply a major storyline not long from now. Unfortunately, this new idea has given this story an ending in sight, but pretty far off still. I'm going to estimate it having 20 chapters altogether, which happens to be short for me. Also, if there's any other characters besides the ones I've written so far that you would like to see, let me know. I happen to like the five or so that I've included, and I don't really feel any more are necessary, but let me know if you feel differently. I sincerely hope I don't lose any readers over this new plot direction introduced in this post, since it is so overly used, but I'm hoping that I use it in a different direction than most would. I think that's everything for the time being, so just let me know if you're reading, what you want and what you definitely don't want. Thanks.

Tiny twinkling stars filled the night sky and let their small amount of light wash over the Flying Dutchman, illuminating its surface and bringing its lone crewmember on the deck into view. His elbows were planted firmly on the railing as he gazed longingly up at that same bright sky, wondering if miles away the one he loved so dearly was seeing those same small stars. His sadness was evident in the forlorn look of his eyes, missing the shine they normally held, and every so often he would sigh aloud, the only sound filling the evening air. His crew had retired to their quarters hours earlier, and he was the only one left awake, keeping watch on the deck only a few minutes longer before he too would resort to his bedroom for the night. He would be with her, if only in his dreams for the few short hours before dawn, and he would be at peace for himself. But for now, he was left with the company his thoughts provided.

It had been a lonely four months and seventeen days since he had last seen Elizabeth, and the days, weeks, months, and years spread out before him seemed to stretch out forever, ending long after the horizon that was so far off in distance. His last sentence aboard the ship had been punctuated by visits from Jack, but he had yet to see his old friend in the past three months, 12 weeks, 90 days, or however you chose to look at it. He hadn't come providing comic relief from the dark state of Will's life as captain of the Dutchman, nor did he come with an update on how Elizabeth was doing. He could clearly remember the way Jack would always hesitate before telling him that Elizabeth was doing just fine in a slightly less straightforward manner, not admitting aloud the hell she was going through alone, but giving what he hoped would be enough solace for Will. But Will ached for her with that same intensity, and Jack's attempts always fell short.

Gazing up at the sky once more, he was again shocked by its pure beauty, how clear it was despite the rain that had seemed to stretch on for weeks until now. He looked back down to the surface of the water to see the same reflection, the same image yet different in it's own way, and he wondered what Elizabeth was doing beneath this same night sky. Maybe she was fast asleep, finding the smallest amount of comfort in her dreams, like he did most nights, the one tiny aspect of his life that kept him going even when he was this discouraged. Maybe she was awake, staring up at the same blanket of lights that he was at this moment, and the thought was calming, as if it may just be the truth. Wherever she was, this sky, this time, this moment connected her to him, and it was things like this that made it all worth it, despite the fact that so many more months would pass before he would take in her beauty again.

He closed his eyes as he listened to the gentle waves hit the side of the ship below him, trying to recall her face from his memories, any memory of her would suffice. He could see the way her lips parted just slightly while she slept, the way her eyelids fluttered while she dreamt, of what he did not know. He could feel her skin against the tips of his fingertips, taste her on his lips, take in the sweet scent of her hair if he tried hard enough, but still, it was not enough. He had been wrong when he told his father that the price he was paying depended solely on that one day every ten years he was given. No matter how memorable the day, how cherished it was, it was the steepest price to pay. And when he was honest with himself, at times like these when he was alone except for the company the sea provided him, he wondered if it was really worth paying still.

His private consul was interrupted then as slow, steady footsteps filled the quiet twilight that surrounded him, cutting into the alleviation of his thoughts and stopping just as suddenly. He knew it wasn't a crewmember, he would have announced his presence long before this point in time, and while a plundering pirate would sometimes have the bravery to board the ship without an invitation, it wasn't a commonplace. He didn't bother to turn around as he spoke softly, yet his voice seemed much to loud for the serenity that had befallen the ship in these late hours between dusk and dawn. "If you are here on the ship, I must assume that you do fear death, but I must warn you, consenting to serving upon my ship means that you will be here for one hundred years in entirety."

"I don't know if I should comply with such a concord, seeing as I myself am not dead. Not to mention, three Turners seems like an awful lot for one ship…" The voice behind him evanished as he spun around to face the source, but he knew before he even met her sparkling amber colored eyes, he could recognize that voice anywhere. Elizabeth was there right before his eyes, her teeth grazing her bottom lip, her face slightly pale under the glow of the full moon above. She was dressed much more unsparingly than before, wearing a gown he was sure hid many other layers below its skirt, and her hair was partially pinned up, tiny strands having escaped to frame her angelic face. He stood there as if his feet were glued to the wooden planks supporting them, his shock evident on her face, and he watched as a small smile graced her own lips, her voice soft and melodic, just the way he remembered it. "It's me, Will. I'm here, you're not dreaming. This, all of this, is really happening."

He watched as she took a step closer to him, as if closing the distance between them would make this fact more real to him and less like he was lost in a fog, and he found himself still at a loss for words. "But… how? Why? If it was this easy for me to see you, why did you not come sooner?" She stopped a few feet in front of him, a long enough distance that his fingertips would have just grazed her arm had he tried to touch her, and her laughter filled the evening air just the way he remembered.

"Oh, Will, it was not easy to come here at all. I couldn't have done it had I not been helped by Barbossa and Jack." She watched as confusion clouded his features again, only fueling her own merriment as she wrapped her arms loosely around her neck. She leaned in closer so he could feel her light breath on the side of his neck, he could take in her familiar scent, he could feel the way she shook through the fabric of her dress when he rested his hands on her waist despite the confident face she had put on for him. But before her lips could even skim his own, the loud and unruly voices of two of the other pirates aboard the ship resounded in the night atmosphere, much too loud and rowdy for the moment they had been sharing. Elizabeth too seemed to change in this moment as her hands dropped away from his neck to rest on his on both of her sides. Her voice was now an unsteady whisper, her smile having dissipated into the misty air. "I spoke with Jack, like you requested I do, and … Well, I was hoping we could talk alone."

Will didn't hesitate for a second as he nodded surely in response, lacing his fingers through hers and marveling at the way that their hands fit so perfectly together for just a moment before leading her to the door that led to the lower deck of the vessel, and then down the staircase into his own quarters. The room seemed even more cramped with the two of them occupying it, but before he had a chance to apologize for the accommodations he had to offer her, the wind had picked up again and the ship moaned and rocked with it. Her small hands clamped tightly around his arm, and when he stole a glance in her direction, he saw that all the color had drained completely from her face. His voice was soft and soothing as he led her over to the tiny bed, helping her to sit on its edge. "Maybe it would be best if you rested for a moment. You surely have been through a lot to get here, you must be tired by now."

His kindness was perceived by her, there was no doubt about that, but when she looked back at him, her tear filled eyes pleaded with him. "Will… I want to discuss this now… Too many nights just like this have passed already, and I fear that if we wait any longer, the chance we have now may be lost forever." He nodded as he knelt to rest in front of her, silently urging her to go on if she chose to do so. She took a deep breath, looking back down to the hand that he had rested tenderly on her knee for comfort. "I want you to agree to accompany Jack. I want you to join him on his journey to the Fountain of Youth."

Her confession was nothing less than shocking to him, but he hid it well as he nodded once again, never letting his eyes stray from her. He permitted the silence of the room to have its way as he tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, letting his hand linger on her cheek, gently rubbing it with the pad of his thumb, as he spoke. "What caused you to change your mind, Elizabeth?"

Her gaze dropped from his in that instant, falling to rest on the pale yellow color of her gown, and she pulled her hand that had been resting in his away, rubbing the soft fabric of her dress between her thumb and forefinger as she sat there silently. Will started to think that she wasn't going to tell him what was on her mind at all now, but she surprised him when she finally met his face again, a few tears running their course down her cheeks. Her voice broke when she tried to speak to him, so she stopped again, and she spoke in a tone barely above a whisper once she trusted herself to talk again. "I'm pregnant, Will."

Three words, that's all her statement had been, only four syllables in length. Yet, in that moment, with her here beside him, it literally changed everything from that moment on, he couldn't go back to the dreary life aboard the ship, and she couldn't go back to her lavish life on land after such a strong revelation. He stood to his feet as he walked to the opposite wall before turning around to face her again. His hand shook just noticeably as he ran it through his hair, his eyes focused on a spot on the ceiling for a minute too long before joining hers again. '"A baby? You're going to have a baby?"

Elizabeth shook her head as she stood up from the bed, appearing to have her confidence restored for the time being as she crossed the short distance of the room and turned around so her back was to him. She motioned for him to untie the back of her gown as she spoke, and when he moved to do so, he felt the heat radiating from her skin despite the way she shook, and he left what he hoped was a reassuring kiss on the spot between the nape of her neck and the fair skin of her shoulder. "No, Will, _we_ are going to have a baby. I apologize for not having relayed this news to you sooner, but there wasn't any way to get to you before now. I left with Captain Barbossa and Jack two months ago, but the storms have been blowing us off course, and it wasn't until now that we caught up to the Dutchman."

Hearing the nervous tone to her voice, he merely nodded in response, not even knowing what to say to her. Regret, disappoint, lamentation, happiness. They all affected him in their own ways as he slowly slid the heavy dress from her tiny body, watching the way the material pooled at her feet, leaving her in a sheer white cotton dress, similar to the one she had worn when he had last seen her on the beach. As she slowly turned to face him again, her hand rested at her abdomen where there was a barely visible bump, and he was surprised by how noticeable the fact that she was with child was already, even if it had been four months and seventeen days to be exact. It was her turn to lead him now as she pulled him with her to sit on his small bed, the two of them together filling its surface almost completely while just sitting upon it. Her voice was calm when she spoke, and her hand moved to take his, tracing the lines on her palm that she knew by heart. "Jack told me that Cascada would be able to restore your mortality, and she is forever sentenced to guard the Fountain of Youth. The map will lead us to the fountain, and she can bring you back to life after the heart is stabbed. Your father can remain here as captain in your absence, and no one will know the difference. I didn't mean what I said before, this plan of Jack's will work. And then we'll be together."

He could see the way she bit her lip again like a small child cowering in fear when her voice broke off, but he didn't say anything. He didn't trust his voice in those few short moments after he had listened to her plan to get him off the ship forever because he had found the one flaw, the huge flaw that had somehow been overlooked by all three of the people who cared enough to journey this far. He knew for a fact now that neither Jack nor Barbossa knew that he was going to be a father either, her dress with all of its many layers would hide the evidence, even if it was not perceptible to anyone who did not know. She had taken the precautions, ensuring that he would be the first to know, and now he was about to bring this hope, this dream of hers crashing down. His heart broke for her when he finally looked in her direction again, his eyes staying even with hers. "Elizabeth… There's no one to stab my heart. There's no one to take my place here on the Dutchman."

He watched as her vision clouded with her tears again, and she shook her head feverishly from side to side. "No… no, that can't be… We had figured everything out… It was going to work… We were… We were going to save you from this ship… We were… We were…" Her voice broke off as the finality of his statement hit her in all of its entirety, and she collapsed in tears, her thin body folding into his already waiting arms. Her hollow sobs shook her entire body and reverberated against his hollow chest as he rested his chin on the top of her chest, letting her cry to him. He let her express the sorrow that they both felt so strongly because he feared if he didn't, he would become this broken as well.

"Listen to me, Elizabeth." He spoke with a stability and confidence he didn't know he still possessed as her tears continued to soak the material of his shirt against his chest, as he continued to rub her back in a soothing matter. "You will be fine. You will return to the land, you will have Jack and Barbossa near for when you cannot bear to be alone, and in a few short months, you'll have our child. You'll always have me, no matter how far away I may be, and you'll be able to see me again in a few more years. But you cannot admit defeat like this, I will not let you."

Instead of agreeing with him and letting her tears subside, Elizabeth shook her head stubbornly against his chest, not bothering to look back up at him even for a short minute. Will knew that she was exhausted, traumatized, and upset, and he was not going to get anywhere talking to her right now. He pulled her over to rest in his lap as he pulled her shoes off after removing his own, then pulled the pins from her hair and let it fall over her shoulders in waves. He held her close to him as he laid down on the bed, pulling her to rest against his chest once again, both of them laying on their sides, and he wrapped his arms around her so tightly that he knew no matter how much she tossed and turned, she would still wake up in this same warm embrace.

He was not going to forget her, he was not going to let her be alone. He was not going leave her crying and upset like this, and he was going to do everything in his part not to let her down. He would permit her to stay on the ship for a few more days, two at the most he made himself promise now while she finally let sleep overcome her. He would try to contact Jack in that time without her knowing to make sure that there was no other way around this predicament they had been thrust into. And he would savor every moment that he had with her and their unborn child, storing it away for nights like this when she wouldn't be resting in his arms, when he wouldn't feel her breathing beside him. He would remember the small moments like this in case they never came for them again.


	6. Chapter 5: Loving Might Be A Mistake

A/N: Last post didn't go over so well, I guess, seeing as reviews have been down, and I'm not too proud of it myself. Hopefully, I redeem myself here. I'm sorry if it feels rushed now, but there's so much I want to do with this, I don't want it to be one filler after another. And I apologize for my grammatical errors even more now, seeing as my Beta is going to be out of town and without a computer for a couple of weeks now. Here's to hoping this one is more liked. As always, let me know if you're reading. Thanks.

It was late the next morning when she finally stepped out onto the upper deck of the Flying Dutchman, letting the sights and sounds of the sea greet her in full force, and seeing the sun so high above her already, she regretted having slept as long as she did. Being aboard a pirate ship in her current state of mind and having to hide her own secret had been the biggest challenge Elizabeth had faced, and many sleepless nights were a direct result of those conditions. Jack and Captain Barbossa hadn't treated her like one of the crew on this voyage, something she had begged of them more than a decade ago, but she would be forever grateful for their behavior towards her. They realized that she was no longer the same Elizabeth she had been at that time, so they hadn't expected her to act in the same manner the Elizabeth Swann who had not witnessed the death of her love had. Nevertheless, on this particular morning, she had committed the opposite crime and overslept instead of not sleeping at all, and it turned out to be a similar predicament.

As she searched the now crowded surface of the ship for a familiar face, a small smile graced her lips as she thought back to the night before. Despite the tears she had shed in the privacy of Will's quarters and the burden of her secret that she had unwillingly thrust upon him, the thrill of surprising him with her presence was one she would not soon forget. Finally sharing with someone the fact that she was with child was another moment that she would hold close to her like a beloved childhood toy once she would have to depart from Will's company once again. Because she knew now despite how her nightmares ceased when she slept in his arms or the little comfort that she was provided with when she knew he was on the same vessel as herself, her plan had contained an error that she herself and overlooked, and they would once again be forced to part ways.

Her eyes finally landed on the familiar broad-shouldered figure standing on the opposite end of the ship, staring out at the depths of the ocean and the horizon just beyond view, and she quietly made her way to where he was standing. She took in the far away look in his glazed-over eyes, the pure white color of his knuckles as he clamped down on the railing of the ship as if for dear life, and she was forced to look quickly in the other direction for fear that he would see her tears spill over onto her cheeks. She kept her gaze firmly aimed in the other direction as she spoke, her voice soft and too thin, as if it was being carried far away on the breeze before it even reached his ears. "I regret so much about that year of my life… I hate living with the knowledge that if I had just confronted you, we wouldn't have lost so much time that could have been spent together. We would have been married long before that day, and maybe then I would not feel like we have missed out on so much."

"But that's no way to live, Elizabeth. You cannot dwell on the past when there is no way to change it." His voice was filled with a sureness, a sense of security, that betrayed the shock she was sure she would have caused him by having so suddenly appeared at his side. But when she met his light brown eyes straight on, she knew immediately that he had sensed her there beside him long before she spoke aloud. He placed his hands firmly at her waist as he stepped closer, and she could feel her throat tighten as it always did right before her eyes welled with tears. His eyes never strayed from hers as he spoke, not even as the other members of the ship moved about them in a flurry of activity, and it reminded her of their wedding ceremony. The world they had always known was falling apart all around them, yet he looked at her as if she was the only person there with him at all, a feeling that she too had felt so surely in her heart. "We can both find faults in our own actions that led to us not speaking to one another, but regretting that we chose to act that way won't give us a chance to act differently."

She gave a small nod as she ducked her head, looking down to his feet, meeting the familiar black leather of his boots, boots she had worn time and time again. Not even a full minute passed though before she felt his soft finger beneath her chin acting as a lever to force her to look in his direction. He offered her a small smile, one that didn't hide the pain and despair he was experiencing right below the surface. When she spoke to him again, ever so gently, her voice was a whisper as she feared that speaking any louder would reduce her to tears again. "What happens when you cannot change your future as well?"

The tone of her voice held the melancholy both of them were finding harder and harder to suppress, and this time he had no response for her. There were no words of comfort he could offer her to soften the blow that was their future, or the way it appeared from where they were standing right now. He didn't hesitate at all before pulling her into his arms and letting her press the side of her face tightly against the worn cotton of his blue shirt, marveling once again for only a moment at how perfectly her body fit against his own, as if they had been made for each other, to fit as if they were interlocking gears, made to form a single unit. Pressing light kisses on the top of her head which had been warmed by the midday sun, he closed his own eyes as he willed himself not to break down in the manner that his body ached to, knowing that tears of his own would only cause her to shed more.

When she finally gazed back up at him, her big brown irises held that same question for him, and he had to look much too far to find a remnant of the brave, strong, carefree woman she had once been. Recalling a memory from that era of their lives together proved to be an even more difficult task, something that didn't pass by him. He watched the way her lips moved but no sound came out, and he felt as if he could see the many questions that were running through her mind at that time, along with her frustration that came with not knowing which one to speak aloud first. Any question that was asked of him or of her would be one that would go unanswered, any answer too tragic, too disheartening to speak aloud. He did not wait for her to finally say something else, an answer to her own question or another one for him to supply a response. Instead, he pressed his lips firmly against her own, his hand falling to rest at her abdomen, his thumb caressing it softly through the thick fabric of her skirt, reminding them each of the tiny life she was now carrying, and Elizabeth was forced to choke back a sob.

In the moments that followed, she wouldn't be sure if it was the soft hand he had laid at her waist with no warning, the tears she was trying so hard to ward off before they fell in narrow streams down her porcelain cheeks, or the sound of another member of the crew, a third person, clearing his throat that caused her to pull back, but when she was met with the soft, worn eyes of Bill Turner, she felt her cheeks turn a fair shade of crimson and her voice catch in her throat. The elderly man offered up a sheepish and apologetic smile as if it might make up for the moment he had just brought to an end, but she was relieved when it was he who spoke first, not waiting for an explanation for her presence on the ship from either herself or Will. "Elizabeth, my dear, it is very good to see you."

Elizabeth offered a friendly smile in return despite the way her heart raced beneath her ribcage, and she turned ever so slightly in Will's arms so his hand rested at her side instead of her abdomen, not entirely sure that anybody else should have reason to know the secret of the child they had conceived just yet. "As it is to see you, Mr. Turner." She relaxed a little in his embrace as she felt the way Will's hand that rested on her hip tightened a small amount, the tiny gesture letting her know that he was overwhelmed with the same uncomfortable feeling caused by the situation they were now in. She moved her hand to the one that hung limp at his side, lacing her fingers through his and giving it a gentle squeeze as if to let him know she was there for him, more so than the physical sense that was quite obvious.

The hearty laugh the older Turner gave seemed to warm her heart in the smallest manner and he gave a wave of his hands as if her words were like a mosquito that one could shoo away with this one gesture. "I do not know if I would say that. I seem to be a sore sight for eyes as beautiful as your own these days." His kind words caused her cheeks to flush with that same vibrant pink color, standing out against the pale, languid color her skin had taken on from staying locked in her bedchambers, away from the world for so long. Bill took a step closer to the pair, and instinctively she went to take a step back, only to find Will's foot already there. Before she could apologize for her action, try to come up with a reason as to why she would fear the man in front of her, the one that had been willing to stay aboard a ship in the command of such a monster for her happiness, he was speaking again. His voice was soft and steady, but it was quiet all the same, and Elizabeth was grateful that he realized her being aboard the ship was meant to be a secret. "I must ask, my dear child, why you are here in my presence. Why would one who loved life as much as yourself want to be a part of the crew of the Flying Dutchman?"

The reason for her stay on the ship was an easy explanation, starting with the discovery of her pregnancy and ending with her arrival on the ship with the help of Jack and Captain Barbossa, but when faced with the bluntness of his interrogation, it did not seem so simple. She opened her mouth to start the lamentable story that led to this moment in time now, but no words came out, no words felt right as they stayed on the tip of her tongue. Instead, she looked back into Will's familiar eyes, not surprised to find him already gazing lovingly down at her, nor to find the comfort that she needed in that one glance. It was he who tightened the gri p on her hand this time, bending his head down to leave a feather-light kiss on the nape of her neck, right below her earlobe, and whisper softly in her ear. "You should return to my quarters. I will talk to my father."

She spun around to face him as she heard his words, her shock displayed plainly across her features, but he only nodded as if to enforce what he had just said, and she had no choice but to comply. She left a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth before plastering on a weak smile and retreating down the stairs that led to the many rooms below the deck. Will watched her figure disappear, his eyes lingering on the space she had just left much longer than was necessary, and his eyes stayed on that same spot in the distance to the left of his father when he finally spoke aloud. "I know what this must look like to you, but I was not the one to make Elizabeth come here. I did not know she was planning to come to me until last night."

"And how do I know that what you tell me is the truth?" Bill moved to the side of the ship, gazing down at the depths of the clear blue sea instead of his son's face, not wanting to see the disappointment that flashed across his face when he admitted his skepticism. "I want to trust you, William, I really do, but I also know what you were planning. And you also know..."

"That this ship is no place for her, but she came to me. How could I just turn her away in the middle of the night, especially when…" Will's voice, now thick with emotion, trailed off as he sighed softly to himself, turning around to place his hands on the railing of the ship and support his weight now that his knees buckled under him. His eyes stayed glued to a spot above the horizon, a focal point to keep him from falling to his knees. He wondered for a moment what Elizabeth would think if he told his father now of the many secrets they were both harboring: the baby, the plan, Jack. Before he had a chance to even consider the consequences of his actions, he found himself speaking aloud the one small detail he had learned the night before that now occupied all of his thoughts. "Elizabeth's pregnant."

He could feel his father's cool gaze fall on him, but he did not turn to look. He could sense the shock, evident in even the air around him in those few short seconds, but he did not acknowledge that he knew of his father's reaction. Will simply cleared his throat and held his gaze steady on the horizon as he fought to keep his voice just as even. "I don't know how long she has known for, but it has been a while. She listened to Jack when he spoke with her, but she did not concede with his request. But… knowing that she was with child changed her view on the situation, and she enlisted his help, along with Captain Barbossa's to come here. She was going to ask you to take over as captain, and I would accompany the crew of the Black Pearl to the Fountain of Youth where the immortal who guards it would restore my own mortality, but her plan was faulty." Turning back around, Will pressed his back against the railing as his gaze fell to rest on two crew members a few feet away who were fighting over a small golden object, more for a distraction than because either of the two truly cared for the tiny possession. His voice was barely a whisper when he finally voiced his thoughts aloud, still not able to meet his father's eyes. "There's no one to take my place."

Bill Turner's eyes grew wide as he turned away from the water below to look back at his son, studying something farther off, but as he shook his head, Will finally turned to look his way. "That's not true, William. I can take your place. I can save you, just like you saved me." His son went to protest, to tell him that it was not necessary or fair or a combination of the two, but Bill raised a hand and Will pressed his lips together in a tight line. "What do I have to go back to, besides yourself and Elizabeth, and this family that you will be starting together? I've been at sea for so long now, I have no desire to return to the land. And I truly am already dead, there is no return one day for me. I know I always told you not to lose hope, but for me, there is no hope left to be found. But you have Elizabeth, you're going to have a child, William. Now, tell me. Is there anything that you wouldn't do for that child of yours already?"

Will ducked his head, his eyes falling to rest on the smooth black leather of his boot, another constant reminder of Elizabeth who was just below the deck and waiting for his return. And hadn't he picked Elizabeth before his death, when he had married her aboard the Black Pearl? But was it fair to have his father meet this fate, force him to take his place on the ship? It was a question he could not answer because a decision would mean hurting someone he loved, but his father had already made that decision for him. Clamping a strong, weathered hand on his shoulder, Bill Turner met his son's gaze with one that expressed the feelings that he felt towards him, the same ones a warm embrace would convey to him. "You don't have to answer that question because I know your answer would be yes. I am your father, you are my son, and I would do anything to make you happy, no matter what the consequences."

The older man squeezed his son's shoulder just slightly before moving past again, calling out an order and then pulling that same golden object away from the two fighting pirates before reprimanding them. But Will Turner remained at the edge of the ship, watching the scene in front of him and trying his hardest to picture it without himself there. Then, he tried to picture himself in that same mansion alongside Elizabeth, a small infant in her arms, both of them happy and finally at peace. Their plan was risky, he knew that. There were numerous opportunities for things to go terribly wrong, for things to become worse than they already were. But he had already decided his future, and there was no going back, no matter how immense this newfound fear was. He belonged with his family. He belonged with Elizabeth.


	7. Chapter 6: Feel Me Hold You

A/N: Not much to say this time, surprisingly enough. This would've been up sooner, but I only finished half of it before I met Matt Damon and George Clooney in person. I know I always have an excuse, but that truly did happen. lol As for the post, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm definitely straying from the norm with the beginning, so let me know what you think. I always love to hear from my reviewers and anyone who takes the time to write more than "Post soon" (not that it's not appreciated), I will try to respond to you. Thanks.

Jonathon Greene was usually a calm, level-headed person if you asked him, not that anyone did. But if the question had arisen at some point, he would be able to meet the person straight on and answer with the confidence that only a man who practiced honesty could. When Elizabeth's behavior had changed so suddenly, he tried to reason rationally with her and speak with her as if they were both adults, which they just so happened to be. In the days following the last and final outburst Elizabeth had experience in his presence, he told himself that she had started the debacle herself by not showing up and he had only been asking her why. There had been no wrongdoing in his actions, she was the cause of their argument. And when she disappeared after that, he told himself the same thing, that it was not his fault she had fled from the mansion she had called home for so long. He couldn't stop her from leaving if he knew nothing of her plans to do so, and he could not be responsible. Still, he had lied for her, telling people she was ill or somewhere else at the moment. He had taken the time to cover for her so no one would know that she had become such a disgrace as governess, and three months later, he was finally fed up with her and her little antics.

He raised his hand to knock swiftly on the door four times, pressing an ear to its heavy oak surface and speaking aloud, making sure that the housekeeper down the hall could hear him. "Governess Swann, it is I, Jonathon. I would like a moment of your time, please, to speak with you about a pressing matter." He plastered on a friendly smile as he twisted the knob, giving the housekeeper a small nod of recognition before disappearing into what he knew would be an empty bedchamber and letting the door fall closed behind him. He didn't know if he did the elaborate entrance to her bedroom anymore for the others around him or for himself anymore, but he always felt the same sense of accomplishment when one of the other inhabitants of the house would ask about her whereabouts and a lie rolled off his tongue so easily.

He stood in her empty room again, amazed by the cleanliness of the room once again. He had thought of every tiny detail to make it seem like she really was still sleeping in these bedchambers. He would pull the sheets loose from their tight hold every night and turn out her light, moving a gown from her wardrobe to the floor outside the door where one of the many housekeepers would always come for it. He had left the room disheveled one morning, leaving the room somber and telling the nearest servant that Elizabeth was having a rough day and had just thrown a tantrum. Other mornings, he would leave the curtains closed and the door locked, telling people she needed time to herself to lament over the loss of her father. He always had an excuse for her empty quarters as well: She was having tea in the gardens, she had business to attend to elsewhere, she was visiting a friend, she had just left but return soon. And until now, he had thought he had the answer to everything, that he would be able to protect Elizabeth until she finally chose to return to her position. But he had overlooked a previous engagement.

Elizabeth had been summoned to attend a meeting with all her Lords, the many advisors that took small sections of the territory she governed to lighten the burden that the job of governor, or in her case, governess, entailed. The Lords had been arriving as of late, and he was sure that they wouldn't put up with his meager stories about failing health and deep depression much longer. Finding a substitute Elizabeth Swann for the meeting was out of the question because, while this was the first time all twelve Lords would be meeting with Elizabeth, they had been meeting with her father for years. They had known the girl since she was a baby, and they would know without a doubt if the woman they met with was a fraud. He would either need a believable alibi for the governess, or he needed to get her back here.

Sighing to himself, he walked around the perimeter of the room, trying to find yet another clue to her disappearance. It did not take a genius to know just where she was, she had gone back to her husband of course. It was her motive for leaving now of all times that Jonathon couldn't quite figure out. She had disappeared into the night without a trace, no one had seen her leave, and he had asked almost everyone. He had even gone to people associated with pirates, having to convince them for long periods of time that he wasn't going to arrest them if they would just give him as much information as they possibly could. The only small detail he had found out from a man who was quickly drinking his way through his life savings was that she had entered a bar near the harbor frequented by pirates, and no one saw her leave.

His private moment within the confines of her bedchambers was broken as a knock came on the partially opened door, and he was met with the flustered face of one of the young soldiers who helped on the premises where help was needed, seeing as there was no fight going on at the moment. This particular soldier was fairly new, and Jonathon knew him by name: Patrick Carter. He gave a small smile as he stepped into the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Sir, but I must request a moment of Governess Swann's time." Flashing a bright smile, he turned to look in the direction of the bed, and Jonathon fought to not laugh as he saw the young man's face fall with the same celerity. "Oh… I-I didn't know that Governess Swann was not here. Do you know where I might be able to find her?"

"No, I do not, Patrick," Jonathon answered with the same stability as he took a step closer to the man in front of him, shaking his head solemnly. "In fact, I would like you to issue a declaration to the people to inform them that Elizabeth Swann is missing. You must create a nautical search party, with myself in charge, and you as my co-captain. We leave this afternoon." Patrick nodded in approval before stepping towards the doorway once again, but Jonathon's mind worked much more quickly. He was already thinking back over the pain and anguish the young woman who had trusted him so much had then in turn put him through. Wasn't it only fair to reciprocate the same kind of punishment in return? "Oh, and Patrick?" He spoke before he could change his mind, and he was glad when he turned around, not sure that he would ask again later if he didn't do it in that instant. "I want you to issue a warrant for Elizabeth's arrest as well."

- - - -

Elizabeth bit her bottom lip so hard that she drew blood as she dropped down to the tiny stool behind the massive organ that acted as a heart for the massive vessel. If something went wrong now and she was forced to return to the Black Pearl already, she wasn't sure that even the knowledge of their unborn child would keep her going this time, would give her the will to live. Will's death had been the quake that had torn her life apart, the tidal wave that washed out all the stability she had once felt, and the knowledge of her pregnancy had been the aftershock that had forced her to realize it still affected her everyday life, the failure of strategy the third wave that came with the most force and power to pull her apart with it. Running her hand along the ebony keys, she let them play their lamenting notes until the sound became too much like wailing and she forced herself to pry her fingers from their smooth surfaces. The silence that filled the room in the music's absence was even worse.

She was about ready to go up onto the deck herself by now, demand to be a part of the conversation that affected her life just as much as Will 's and his father's. She sighed dramatically as she rose from the stool, feeling the way the floorboards creaked and moaned beneath her weight. She didn't know how anyone could possibly converse for this long, no matter the topic, and she was becoming more restless with each passing minute. It was then that she finally felt the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs, moving slowly as if the person were aged and had limited mobility, and suddenly her pacing stopped and she froze.

She dropped down to the stool once again when she felt like her knees would no longer support her, and she watched as he rounded the corner and entered the room, his surprise showing as he saw her waiting there. It was then that she realized she had told him she would be waiting in his quarters. His shock eventually dissipated and without a word, he began to search through the drawers of a small chest in the opposite corner of the room. When the movements finally ceased and he appeared again in front of her, he seemed nervous and on edge as he pressed something hard, heavy, and metallic into her open palm. "I've had a lot of time to myself on this ship, and I realized that I missed my days as a blacksmith. So, in my free time, I made you this. I have the other half, so I can finally convince you that I won't forget you. Ever." Turning the object in her hand, she saw it for what it was. It was a sliver locket, shaped like half of a heart, half of a whole she thought for a moment before tears started to sting the corners of her eyes. When she opened the small clasp on the side, it played a slow steady melody she recognized from a music box he had given her as a birthday gift when they were both much younger, and it finally dawned on her what this locket really was: a parting gift.

The necklace barely made a sound as it fell from her hand and hit the floor, and she barely noticed as she jumped back up to her feet, not even feeling his hands wrap around her waist to steady her. She shook her head with an urgency she had never felt before, her words flowing out of her mouth before she even knew what she was saying and her tears collecting quickly in her eyes. "I'm not leaving you again, William, I can't. For the past month, I've had the baby to keep my mind from straying to thoughts of you, but now that you know, I can't think of this child without thinking of you as well. And I'm afraid that I can't trust Jonathon anymore. If you send me back, I'll have no one."

Will wrapped his strong, warm arms around her quickly, and her tears spilled over as she squeezed her eyes shut to keep from seeing the pain etched on his own face. "Elizabeth…" His voice was soft and sweet, reminding her of the melody the locket had played, but it didn't hold the regret that she had been expecting. "I'm not going to send you away again, and I'm not going to leave you. Tonight, I'm going to see you back to the Black Pearl, and then I'm going to stay there for the time being. If things go as I hope they do, I will stay there with you until we arrive at the fountain of youth."

A million questions raced through her mind as she looked back up at him, her big brown eyes still glazed over and slightly pink and swollen, but when she saw the same feelings of love and tenderness reflecting in his gaze, she couldn't speak. She returned the strong embrace, not caring that she didn't know the details of their expedition or the hardships it entailed. She didn't care that she had no idea who would take his place as captain or how staying away from the ship would affect him. Instead, she rested her chin on his shoulder as a soft smile spread over her face, and she whispered the two words gently into his ear. "Thank you."

- - - -

Bill Turner would be the one to stab his own son's heart and lose his own life in return, Elizabeth knew that now as she sat in the tiny row boat that was used for going ashore or in case of emergency while sailing on the Flying Dutchman. He would no longer fit into society if he were given the chance to stay on shore again, and he wasn't going to leave his son on the ship, so it seemed to be the perfect option despite Will's arguments. The Flying Dutchman would give up its daily course and follow the Black Pearl to the Fountain of Youth so all involved would be there when the time came to take part in the riskiest part of their contrivance. It would be a few months until they reached the Fountain, and while it would affect all aboard the Dutchman, it would not be long enough to make them as much a part of the sea and Davy Jones' crew had become. Their endeavor was really going to happen now, yet Elizabeth couldn't relax.

She bit her nails, played with her hair, and tapped her foot against the wooden bottom of the boat until Will placed his own foot over his to stop her. Her eyes flickered up to meet his own and she saw the playful smile he gave her when his foot brushed against her ankle again. But, surprising even herself, she pulled her own foot back, that small touch would drive her crazy when she knew she could feel him any closer. She grasped his wrist firmly in her hand a minute later and pulled him down so he was resting in the space between the two wooden planks that served as seats. Then, she lowered herself to sit between his legs, knowing that if they were both in the middle, there was no chance they would throw off the balance of the small vessel. She moved her hands to rest over his on the oars, moving them in the same sure circles that he did, enjoying the feeling of his slightly damp skin beneath her own.

She knew that it would take most of the night to get to the Black Pearl, but it was a small sacrifice to pay. They left so late at night so no enraged crewmembers could thwart their plans and force them to stay, but now as her eyelids began to droop, it didn't seem like such a good idea. To keep herself from falling asleep there in his arms, she finally spoke aloud. "Do you think that this will work?"

She did not need to elaborate for him to know what she was talking about, and she felt his weight shift as he shrugged his shoulders in response before realizing that she would be unable to see the tiny gesture. She felt herself relax even further when his confident voice filled the quiet. "Love is not a victory march, you know that. But… I think we have a good chance."

She nodded her head against his chest, pulling her hands away from where they rested on his on the oars. She heard the sound the oars made as they struggled through the water now, with only Will's hands to guide them, and she turned around to face him, looking straight up at him. "Why your father, Will? What did he say to you?"

Will's gaze had met hers the minute she turned around in the tiny boat, but now they strayed anywhere but her face. She could feel the movement of the boat pick up speed as he moved his arms faster, taking his frustration out on the oars, and she knew that he wasn't as convinced about the decision he had made as it had seemed on board the ship. "He said that I was his son and he was willing to do anything for me. And… I couldn't argue him this time because I know how that feels now… Wanting to do anything for your child."

Elizabeth's eyes glazed over with tears as she turned back around, her back settling perfectly against his chest, but she didn't notice. She played with her hands in her lap for a minute before resting them on her abdomen, feeling closer to the child within her if that was even possible. Her cheeks flamed with the guilt she felt, and she couldn't even convince herself that Will had deserved to know, not now when her confession was about to cost Bill Turner his mortality. Maybe he was right, maybe he wouldn't be accepted into a society he hadn't been a part of even before his death, and maybe it wouldn't have worked out anyways, he would still be bound to the ship, but now there would be no knowing if there was another chance for him. She had taken that away.

Will had felt her body stiffen against his, he could feel the way she curled in around herself as if maybe then she would be able to hide from him in this tiny rowboat, but he knew better. Instead of trying to tell her that he did not blame her for this or that everything would be okay, he knew that the first would fall on deaf ears and the second was an untrue fact, and she knew both of those things already. He let the oars rest in their holders on the sides of the boat, moving his hands to cover hers, and he let them linger on her stomach a little longer than necessary before pulling her hands away and wrapping them on the oars, guiding them with his own this time. He bowed his head closer to her neck, leaving a kiss on her earlobe as he whispered into it. "Tell me something else. I've missed the sound of your voice."

And Elizabeth did just that, telling him idle stories about her life before she had returned to the sea, about Jonathon Greene and her new servant, Abigail Watson whom she had confided in when she no longer trusted Jonathon with her many secrets, albeit the baby. She told him about the way being back in the area surrounding the harbor made it impossible for her to think of anything about him, and how sick she had been when she finally did return to the sea, something that hadn't been a side effect of the pregnancy, but true seasickness. She told him anything and everything she could possibly think of, even stories of Jack the monkey that caused him to chuckle softly, and she was able to pick up on the vibrations of his chest, letting herself think for the moment that it was the reason why she could not feel his heart beating.

Eventually, her voice faded into the night and Will was sure she had fallen asleep before she spoke again, her voice soft and slightly shaky, but strong and determined all the same. "Did you ever dream about me?" Will hesitated a moment before nodding in response, his head bobbing up and down and his chin just barely grazing the crown of her head. She pulled her hands away from his once again, letting him take full control of the oars, and she laced her fingers together to procrastinate for just a moment, then asking her next question. "What were they about?"

The only sound for a long time was the oars slapping the calm surface of the water, and Elizabeth feared that she had asked the wrong question, one he chose not to answer because it was too painful. But his voice finally met her ears again, slow and hesitant at first before building to its normal demeanor. "That same spot on the beach where we said goodbye. I came back to you and I told you that I didn't have to return to the sea. I held you in my arms, I kissed you, I heard your voice, and when I woke up, I felt like I could still feel your skin against my own." Silence followed, and he felt Elizabeth shift uncomfortably beside him. "Are you alright?" He felt the way she nodded her head, the back of her hair brushing against his chest, and he bent down to leave a soft kiss on it. He rested his chin on the top of her head as he spoke aloud again. "What did you dream of?"

Elizabeth let her teeth graze her bottom lip as she struggled within herself over whether or not she should tell him the truth. She couldn't believe she was admitting this, even to herself, but she was jealous of Will for being able to have such peaceful dreams when she had been fearing the nights she spent alone. But he had given her pure honesty, and she owed him the same. "Well… at first…the dreams were a lot like that day. We would be together somewhere, the ship, the beach, Tortuga, and then I'd have to watch you die all over again, and no matter how many nights I had the same dream, I couldn't stop what was happening. But… when I started sailing on the Black Pearl again, the dreams changed. I was always falling, the same way I did when I fainted all those years ago, but I was conscious and the water never met me. Sometimes, I would see Jack trying to stop me from falling or I would see Jonathon just letting me fall, but they never saved me and I never stopped falling. I don't know what was below me."

Will did not know how to respond to her as he listened to the melancholy tone of her voice, feeling like someone had just punched him in the stomach, causing him to double over. Once again, this was the pain only he had caused her, and it was a feeling that he hated. Leaning down again, he whispered to her, wanting to calm her as she started to shake in his arms. "Well, I'm here now, and I won't let you fall. You should try to get some rest." He felt her nod and settle in a different position in his lap. It wasn't long before he felt her breathing change and he knew that she was fast asleep. Her words rang through his mind as he continued to row the small vessel, and he couldn't imagine a time when his guilt had been this strong. He had hurt her in a way that he never though he could, and he couldn't take away that pain. Ever.

He spotted the glow of a lantern first, then the outline of a ship, and minutes later, Jack's voice filled his ears, giving him directions on where to row the ship to give them the easiest access to the Black Pearl itself. He waited as long as he possibly could before leaving another soft kiss on Elizabeth's shoulder to cause her to wake up. He heard her moan, and it caused him to smile, despite the torment he had been putting himself through. "Your arms…" she mumbled after a minute, and Will wasn't sure he had heard her right until she continued on a minute later. "… it was your arms I was falling into." And finally, he felt like he was starting to make things better for her.


	8. Chapter 7: I Know I'll Be Living Soon

A/N: I've spent the past five hours at a Pirate themed sweet 16, and now that I'm home, curled up in front of my computer in my pajamas, feeling like I may have overdosed on POTC after watching 1 and 2 consecutively, I've decided that I've been trying to write this next chapter all wrong. I wanted comic relief involving Jack, but it just doesn't fit with what needs to be discussed now, there will be plenty of time for dark humor later, so it'll wait. I tried to add a little into this one, but at the same time, I tried to give Jack a more serious side because 1) I'm not a huge Jack fan so I'm not stuck on his character 2) my friend who acts as a beta also helps me with Jack and 3) He deserves to not be a stock character, he deserves a change. I can only hope you guys like my attempt at serious Jack as well. As always, let me know what you think. Any advice is appreciated, even if you just want to vent about how bad my grammar is. Thanks.

Her body was damp and heavy in his arms as he tried to maneuver out of the small rowboat and onto the much larger expanse of ship that lay in front of him. It wasn't helping that the atmosphere on the Black Pearl was the complete opposite of that of the Flying Dutchman, with the whole crew assembled on the deck despite the late hour. He could feel all eyes on him as he swung one leg over the side of the boat, letting his balance return before lifting the other and silently praying that his boot would not catch on the edge of the boat causing him to trip, or, even worse, drop Elizabeth. He somehow managed to not wake her as he stepped onto the deck, his legs shaking slightly from having been seated for so long, and he could finally let himself relax, even if this was just the beginning of many strenuous tasks that loomed ahead. He looked back down to Elizabeth fast asleep in his arms as she felt her soft moan vibrate against his chest, and he watched as her hand curled into a fist around the material of his shirt, nestling herself into his arms as much as possible. She looked so vulnerable, so childlike in his arms, that he was grateful to have an excuse to look away for just a moment when he heard his name called.

"William Turner. I don't believe that it is truly you." The booming voice of the captain he had once feared before he learned to trust him with not only his life but that of his wife's brought a smile to his face as he nodded in acknowledgement. Hector Barbossa was right to not believe that it was Will, there was no way to communicate with the Flying Dutchman and therefore no one aboard the Pearl would know just when Elizabeth would return and if she would be alone. It had been his father's idea to leave in the middle of the night, both of them not knowing how the crew would take the news that they were going to be straying from their normal task in an attempt to alleviate the pain their captain had been feeling, but neither Barbossa nor Jack knew that the couple would return at such an hour, even if they had been helping Elizabeth with this endeavor from its conception.

Will spoke softly after a moment, trying in vain not to wake her from her deep slumber, knowing that the exhaustion she had endured for so long was not good for her or their unborn child. "I know, Captain Barbossa. It's hard for me to believe as well. I really do want to talk with you about Elizabeth's contrivance, but I would like to place her in her quarters first." Barbossa gave him a small nod as he watched the young man move away, trying to attain what he could from Will's demeanor. He didn't know if he should expect to see a broken man or one that had been hardened by the cards he had been handed. The only thing clear so far, as he slowly made his way down the steps that led to the depths of the ship below, was that his love for the woman somnolent in his arms was still as strong as the day he had married the two of them in their less than conventional ceremony. And if anything, it made him start to have second thoughts about the journey they were about to set out on.

Will took his time as he gently settled Elizabeth's body onto the bed in the tiny closet-sized room she now occupied. No one had told him where she was staying because he could have found the room in his sleep, for it was the same room she had claimed as her own the first time she sailed on the Black Pearl without being a captive. He felt the way she reluctantly pulled her arms away from his shirt, as if she didn't want to be far away from him even in her unconscious state. He brushed a strand of hair off her clammy forehead before slowly removing the heavy gown she had been wearing, leaving her in the soft cotton slip-dress she always accompanied all of her gowns with. He left a soft 'I love you' lingering in her ear as he bent down to leave the soft whisper of a kiss on her lips, letting his other hand subconsciously graze her abdomen. When he was finally satisfied that she was safe and would not be worried to find herself alone when she awoke, he headed out of the confines of the bedroom still completely submersed in darkness only to feel a rough hand grab his arm. Before he could shout out in anger, annoyance, fear, or panic, a second weathered hand clamped over his mouth and his captor spun him roughly around so he could not identify the person.

He stumbled as the person behind him guided him roughly into the common quarters below deck , not letting him go until the door had been barricaded by one of the chairs that usually sat beside the small table in the center of the room. The room was dimly lit by lanterns on the walls, contrasting the intense light of the hallway outside, and it took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness that now surrounded him, but he would have recognized his captor anywhere. "Jack!? Do you really think that was necessary!?"

Jack responded with a Cheshire grin and a wave of his hand as he moved to sit on one of the empty chairs around the table, crossing his legs as if to show that he wasn't planning on moving anytime soon. "Of course it was. Why else would I have done it?" Will opened his mouth to respond, but Jack only flashed him the same smile as he gestured dramatically towards the chair opposite himself. "William, please, sit." He did not speak again until the other man had reluctantly dropped onto the hard wooden seat of the other chair, and Jack leaned forward on his elbows, taking a long drink from the bottle of rum on the table before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and talking once again, his voice only slightly slurred. "We both know that Captain Barbossa is going to want to know what you and your love have planned now, small details that make him feel like he's a part of your conspiracy. But, you see, I want to know what made dear Lizzie finally listen to me and decide to take part in this contrivance. And who better to tell me than my good ol' friend, Will?"

Will shifted uncomfortably in the chair under the other man's sharp gaze, his teeth grazing the soft flesh of his bottom lip for only a moment as he searched his mind for an excuse, any excuse at all. It wasn't that he and Elizabeth had vowed not to tell anyone about the child they were going to have, for his father already knew, but informing Jack of her pregnancy did not seem to be the same thing in the least. Elizabeth had kept it a secret from Jack and Barbossa both for her own reasons, and he didn't feel like he was at liberty to confide in them now either. He tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat as he looked hesitantly back across the table. "Parlay?"

Jack gave a hearty laugh as he stood up from the table and walking around its perimeter before moving to stand next to the windows on the opposite side of the room, staring out at the night sky softly fading into the gray shades of dawn. "Oh, Will… Has it really been that long? Have you forgotten that I am Captain Jack Sparrow and that I can always find a way to plunder an answer out of you? I also am aware of the fact that your damsel in distress has taken part in her fair share of bad deeds. Nothing you tell me about Elizabeth will shock me now, not in the way you expect. Unless, of course, her reasoning was a more personal matter…"

The young man still seated at the table thought this over for a moment, perplexed by the situation he had been thrown into so suddenly. Yes, their situation was a personal matter, but not in the way Jack had meant when he had spoken the statement aloud. He also knew that the truth of the matter at hand would surprise Jack because he hadn't noticed or Elizabeth hadn't told him before now. After convincing himself that this was the right thing to do, Will looked back up from the surface of the table to Jack's waiting face, a smug smile on his face. "Elizabeth is with child."

Jack spun around quickly, his eyes searching Will's face for any signs of foul play, wanting to make sure that he had heard him right, and then that he had really said what Jack thought he had heard. He made his way back over to the table, sitting down on the vacated seat as he tried to still process this new fragment of information, his eyes wide. "Elizabeth? No… She couldn't possibly be…"

Will forced himself not to laugh as he nodded his head in response, settling back into the chair as he watched the way Jack rubbed the back of his neck distractedly. "Oh, she certainly is. She just happens to be able to keep a secret, unlike you."

In his state of utter confusion, Jack never even thought to voice a rebuttal to Will's statement or offer a sarcastic remark in reply. "Elizabeth finally decided to risk everything to have you back because she is expecting a child?" Off a nod from Will, his confusion dissipated as he stared back at the other man, seeming to be completely sober at the moment. He threw his hands up in the air as he sighed dramatically, as if whatever epiphany he had just had was completely obvious to Will as well. "Well, then we can't go through with the plan, even I know that."

Now, it was Will's turn to feel perplexed by what Jack had said, leaning forward on his elbows to watch his behavior closely. "Why not, Jack? It makes more sense for Elizabeth and I to try everything we possibly can for this child…" In the quiet that followed, a small smile crept across his face and he rested in his head in the palm of his head, leaning even farther across the small surface of the table. "You're not jealous of my love for Elizabeth, are you, Jackie?"

"Jealous? Me?" Jack gave a hearty laugh and another wave of his hand as he too leaned even closer in to Will, the smell of alcohol on his breath pungent in the enclosed space. "I have beautiful women pining after me wherever I go, so having Elizabeth pick you over me, for what reason, I don't know, is no loss. No, dear William, that's not what troubles me." His sigh was barely audible as he stood up again, pacing the small expanse of space for a while before returning to the spot beside the window and peering out at the frigid waters. He was silent for a long time before he finally spoke again, his voice holding a sense of emotion that Will hadn't even known that Jack possessed. "She talks about you like you put the stars in the sky, Will. She takes your name with a sense of honor that I've never seen in anyone else, and here you are, willing to let it all fall away. Have you even thought about the repercussions if something is to go wrong?"

Will stood up from the table, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the top of the chair in front of him. Did Jack honestly believe that he hadn't spent sleepless nights thinking over just this? He had had plenty of time to consider his options, think about one day versus never again, life eternally on that ship versus no life at all, and he had thought the exact same thing, that it was not worth the fight. But that was before Elizabeth had come to him, alone and deeply depressed, and she had told him that she was pregnant, which changed everything. He shook his head slowly as he walked towards where Jack still stood placidly next to the windows, staring out at the same waves, rolling in and intensifying until they met the ship, their existence cut short. His voice was barely a whisper as if a louder sound may disturb the waves outside the window or Elizabeth sleeping in the next room. "No, you don't understand Jack. You've had your fair share of women parade through your life, but you've never truly been in love, not like I love Elizabeth. I've never wanted anything more than I desire her happiness now. And in my heart, the same heart that she has kept watch over for me for so long, I know that it's worth trying for, maybe even worth dying for, because I've never wanted anything else in the world more than this."

His sincerity was laced through every word he said, and it did not go unnoticed by Jack as he merely nodded in response. The two men both didn't say another word, their eyes glued to the outside world, the turbulent sea seeming to mirror the tenacity of their lives in that moment. The currents of the sea carried the ship on their crests, then dropped it back just as quickly, retracing its steps and leaving it right where it had started. It was just like the problem they faced, always getting farther ahead to be pulled back by the undertow a minute later. Jack was the one to turn to Will first, his eyes now having regained the glint of mystery they always held, and he gave the other man a cocky smile. "Well, seeing as I have no Lizzie of my own, I'm going to go drown my sorrows in that rum that has been calling my name while you go talk to Captain Barbossa. But if he's not making any sense, it's because he already has one foot back in the grave." Laughing at his own joke, he moved back to the table like the last 15 minutes of their lives had never occurred, like he still had no idea what had brought Will back to the ship at all.

Will stood there for a moment in the room, letting his confusion clear, before he nodded distractedly in response to what Jack had said. As the other pirate sunk down into the same seat and helped himself to the rest of the half-filled bottle of rum, Will removed the chair that was blocking the door and closed it once again behind himself, but he did not go back up to the top deck to talk to Barbossa. Instead, he let himself wander back into the room Elizabeth was still sleeping soundly in. He closed the door, blew out the candle that illuminated the room, and pulled off his own boots, stockings, and shirt. Then he pulled her into his arms as he had done so few times in the past, the way he hoped to do for the rest of his life, a life that did not yet truly exist.

Jack's words hung heavy in the air around him as he waited for sleep to overcome him, and soon they became not only a distraction but an obsession. He did get to be in the company of Elizabeth once every ten years, and that was better than never being able to lay his eyes on her beautiful face again. Leaving Elizabeth alone with their baby was a thought that he couldn't even handle ,but he worried that the rest of his days aboard the Flying Dutchman he would wonder if there was more he could have done, if things may have just worked out then. He tightened his grip on Elizabeth's body as he closed his eyes tightly, willing himself not to think anymore about the days, weeks, months, and years ahead of them. But all the while, he was preoccupied with the fear that they, he and Elizabeth, were not doing the right thing at all.


	9. Chapter 8: The World Will Be Changed

A/N: I don't know how I lasted this long without writing this again, but somehow I did. I've been working like crazy, dealing with the usual drama, and babysitting two days a week. Then trying to actually have something that somewhat resembles a social life and deciding to teach Vacation Bible School a couple of weeks ago, my life has been pretty hectic. So, I'm finally doing something for myself and updating this one. If anyone is looking for something else to read, I recently wrote a W/E one shot based on the song I Hope You Dance in which Elizabeth writes a letter to their infant son. And this is probably the last thing I will get up before I leave on Friday. I'll be without a computer for a week, but I'm planning on writing on the beach. lol We'll see how far that gets me before I get back. I'm not so sure about this post yet, seeing as it didn't go the way I had originally planned it would. Hopefully, you guys like it more than I do. Please do review if you are taking the time to read this. Thanks.

The petite honey brunette gave a nervous laugh as she instinctively took a step back from the intrusive man in front of her, her arms crossing at her middle as if that small action may protect her unborn child from what now appeared to be imminent death. As Elizabeth's eyes darted around the crowded deck, looking for anyone whose face didn't display the same identical menacing glare, she couldn't remember for the life of her how she had found herself in this current predicament. The last thing she could bring to mind was her return to the Black Pearl with Will the night before, but now it had to be at least midday, Will was nowhere to be found, and… And how did she end up on the top deck, surrounded by a mob of angry pirates? Looking back to the man she had trusted so much over the past few months, she offered Hector Barbossa a meager smile as she tried to hide her fear. "Captain Barbossa, you cannot be sincere when you tell me to walk the plank. You promised me that you would do everything in your power to free Will from the confines of the Flying Dutchman. What has so suddenly changed?"

"What has changed, ye ask, Mrs. Turner?" A sly grin appeared on the older man's unshaven face as he took another step towards her, causing her to take another step back in fear. Her left foot ended on the plank and she felt the piece of wood bend and sway beneath her weight. One glance behind herself made her gulp quickly before the man in front of her fell to rest on her cheek, roughly jerking her head to the opposite side and forcing her to make eye contact. "I promised ye that I would help ye and yer husband achieve the lives you deserved. But you, my dear, never shared with me yer plans of mutiny." Confusion clouded Elizabeth's expression as she stared into the cold, emotionless eyes of Barbossa, trying to imagine what could have caused this change in his demeanor to occur so suddenly. A flurry of activity caught her attention as the crowd of pirates in front of her parted, making way for two men she did not recognize to force a third man who was bound and tied towards Barbossa himself. But she did not need them to close the distance between her and the person in front of her to know exactly who it was.

She felt like she was going to be sick again as she saw the fear in his eyes, caused not by his own troubling situation but by the one she herself had found herself in. His wrists were tied together behind his back , a gag placed in his mouth to keep him from calling out to her, but what disturbed her the most was the malicious way the two men pushing him forward and causing him to stumble were laughing. Elizabeth instinctively ran towards her husband only to feel her body jerk back as Captain Barbossa grabbed a fistful of her hair, causing her to cry out in pain and surprise and Will's expression to mirror the physical pain she was experiencing. The captain used her hair to pull her back, twisting the fine light brown strands and making her whimper softly once again. His breath smelt strongly of alcohol as he sneered back at her, his face inches away from hers, and he used his free hand to pull the pistol from his side into plain view. "Ye see, my sweet Lizzie, yer love has yet to learn his lesson. He still thinks he can take charge of me ship and control all me men, he just can't accept a helping hand can he?"

Elizabeth's eyes fell to rest on Will's for only a minute, her beautiful brown irises holding all the questions she wanted to ask him aloud in that moment. In response, his gaze dropped to his feet, and she realized with a sickening sense of certainty that the older man was indeed telling the truth. She cried out in pain as the man pulled her hair tighter, forcing her to make eye contact as he continued to speak. "I don't like conspirators, Mrs. Turner, ye should know that by now, and yer precious Will is about to find out." Another jerk of her hair caused her to bite down hard on her bottom lip and forced her to spin around to look at Will again as Barbossa finally announced the lovers' fate aloud. "Ye see, killing Will won't work, because any way you look at it, he's already dead. The only way to truly hurt him is to take away what dear William loves most: his wife and his unborn babe."

Her hazel-colored eyes snapped open in horror as she stared back at Will, seeing him now in a new light, knowing that he would now feel the pain of the situation she had found herself in so many years ago, and all she could think was that she didn't want him to endure that kind of pain. If Will was allowed to return to the Flying Dutchman and she was asked to serve on the vessel, they would be able to be back together, but their baby would be forever lost to the sea and she couldn't see the cruel man at her side ever letting her husband return to his own ship again. She held the strong desire to say something to Will in that moment, tell him everything that she had always wanted to but never could find just the right words to express her feelings, but Barbossa still had a strong hold on the back of her head and the distance was much too far for such a personal conversation.

Before Elizabeth could comprehend what was happening once again, Hector Barbossa had spun her back around, and was now pressing the butt of the gun forcefully into her lower back, pushing her forward towards the thin piece of wood that that hung so perilously above the depths of the sea. She felt his breath, warm on the side of her face as he whispered into her ear. "Farewell, Lizzie." Tears sprung to her eyes as she somehow found it in herself to take another small step forward before turning back around to let herself immerse herself in one last long glance at Will. It was in that moment that he decided to break free from the strong hold the two other men had on him and make his way towards Elizabeth from where she stood so daringly on the plank of the Black Pearl. But a shot rang out before he had taken even two steps, and as he collapsed to his knees, it took Elizabeth a minute to realize that the scream she heard was her own.

Something had gone horribly wrong, she realized as she ran towards Will's crumpled body on the deck, ignoring the commotion that her sudden actions caused on all sides. The hole in Will's chest, in the same hollowed place his heart had occupied prior to his death, did not dissolve and disappear from view as soon as the bullet had exited his body. Instead, it gave way to his crimson blood that stained the white of his shirt and contrasted the black residue the gunpowder had left behind. His mouth moved as he gasped for what little breath he could, but as she knelt beside him and rested his head in her lap, she could see the way the blood would ebb and flow from the wound in his chest with each tiny breath he took. She took a deep breath to try to swallow the panic that was quickly taking over her every action and she busied herself by pushing his soft brown hair off his clammy face, her voice soft as she tried to disguise her pain. "Stay here with me, Will, you'll be okay. You'll pull through this and we'll be together again. We'll be a family, Will. We'll have everything we've always wanted, you must stay with me."

A single tear burned its path into the side of her cheek before falling to the pure white shirt he wore and forever leaving its mark, a tiny spot that somehow seemed to connect her to him. His eyes were filled with a pain she did not know before now as he locked his gaze on hers, a pain that was both physical and emotional, a pain that she could feel resonating from her own heart. His lips moved in a soundless motion, but they were words she had heard from him a million times before. I love you. And then, he closed his deep brown eyes, eyes that had brought her happiness when nothing was going right, eyes that made her cloudy skies disappear and gave way to sunnier days, eyes she knew like the back of her hand, and in the depths of her heart, she knew he was gone.

The salty tears she had shed already left their mark on his lips as she gave him one last, long kiss, feeling the way he seemed to kiss her back even in these few moments after his death. The crowd around her seemed to part and go back to their everyday lives, something she would no longer experience, but she didn't look up. Instead, she rested her head on the deck beside him, laying next to him the same way she had for so many nights, and she let herself cry until her exhausted body gave way and she too went limp, giving way to a sleep that would not heal her in the ways she so badly needed to be healed.

Elizabeth woke up in a cold sweat and gasping for breath, her face already stained with the traces her crying had left behind, and as she sat up quickly, wanting to flee from the confines of the bed, the door to the tiny room swung open to reveal the only person she wanted to see. Worry was etched into the lines of his face as Will moved to the side of the bed, sitting down beside her and brushing strands of hair from her clammy face. She closed her eyes and winced, the action seeming to pain her, as it brought back details of the horrid nightmare she had just experienced, one that had seemed so real, she wasn't sure she wanted to even know what Will had planned for the rest of their journey. Her body still shook with fear as he pulled her into his lap, but the soothing words he whispered into her ear made her body grow weak with desire and all thoughts of mutiny flee from her mind.

She rested her still tired head on his shoulder as he finally spoke, his voice vibrating soothingly against her own chest. "I thought that you would sleep soundly now, with my being here aboard the Black Pearl with you. But now it does not seem so and I'm so very sorry that I cannot take this pain away from you." Elizabeth shook her head quickly as she met his gaze, feeling the final clutches of dread leave her stomach. She spoke softly as she kept his eyes even with hers by placing her hands on either side of his face, gently rubbing the pad of her thumb against his rough cheek.

"No, Will. You do make it better when you are with me. These dreams… They haven't gone away, but they have changed and I'm not sure what to think about them." She bit her bottom lip in a childlike manner as she broke eye contact first, pulling her hands away from his face and folding them in her lap. This conversation would be difficult no matter what way she went around it, but she couldn't find it in herself to start it, not here when she was so close to him physically. But moving to the vacant spot beside him on the bed or the far corner of the cramped quarters would not make the difficulty of her task weaken, she knew that. She decided against waiting to see if the nightmares continued, for that would not get her anywhere closer to feeling safe once again, and she dove headfirst into the conversation after taking a deep breath. "Did you tell anyone that we are expecting a child?"

Will seemed taken aback by her question at first and she feared that she had approached the discussion all wrong, but his flustered appearance gave way to a more shameful demeanor and she relaxed a little bit before her stomach clenched again as she realized his reaction to the question meant that he had indeed revealed their secret to someone. Her immediate reaction was to continue with her interrogation, ask who it was, why he had felt obliged to share something so personal, when it had happened. She wanted to weep into his shoulder and wrap her small hands around his neck until he was no longer breathing at the same time. And right then, strangling him was sounding better because this reality wasn't like her nightmare. He would feel the pain, the lack of oxygen, but he would not die. How could one die without a beating heart in their chest? Thankfully, his stammering stopped her train of thought before she could upset herself any further.

"I-I confided in Jack last night because he would not stop asking questions. He wanted to know why you decided to come find me and try to save me from my punishment. But I believe Jack when he tells me that he will not tell a soul. Jack's word is good, Elizabeth, even if he has not been a good man in the past. He has changed, as have you and myself. Our situation is not an easy one, and we have all felt its effects in different manners. My death may have made an honest man out of Jack Sparrow." She nodded hesitantly as she continued to nibble intently on her bottom lip, wringing her hands in her lap until he took them in his own much larger ones. He gave her a warm smile as he spoke, leaving a kiss on her temple. "A baby is a blessing, Elizabeth. It's an event to be celebrated and not coveted until it is no longer possible to hide the fact that we are starting a family. Are you worried about that now? Becoming a family? Becoming a mother?"

This time, Elizabeth shook her head quickly, her eyes widening as she found herself tightening her grip on his hands. "No, of course not. I have wanted this since I was a small girl myself. And while I doubt my abilities to care for an infant, I know that you will be here beside me."

"I'm happy to hear that, but that still doesn't explain what you are so worried about now. Or why you want to keep our unborn child a secret."

She sighed as she gazed back down to her hands, still firmly in his, and she reassured herself that he was with her, not only when it came to matters that concerned their child, but when it came to everything. Their wedding vows had made that a fact, and she wasn't about to go against her word to keep from embarrassing herself. "Will…" She bit her lip harder as she hesitated a minute, wishing she was better at reading his reaction. "You wouldn't try to take over the Black Pearl, would you?"

His brows furrowed in confusion as he looked back at her, making her want to cower in the corner of the room once again. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

She sighed again to herself as she finally met his deep brown eyes, finding the courage she had needed to continue. "You would try to take control from Barbossa, would you?"

Will laughed softly as he brushed another strand of hair behind her ear, shaking his head softly as he took in her still nervous appearance. "Of course not, Elizabeth. Barbossa and Jack are helping us, they're offering their services to me. I have no desire to ruin this arrangement by taking control of the Black Pearl. And I have never wanted to control a ship once in my days, it is my fate after all. I do not want to be captain of any ship ever again if I can help it at all."

Elizabeth seemed to relax again as she curled up in his lap, resting her head against her chest before she could remind herself that it as hollow, no sound filled her ears. And as his hands traveled downwards to rest on her middle, she felt uncomfortable again, wanting to keep the pregnancy as secretive as possible after her nightmare. The way she tensed in his arms did not go unnoticed by Will, and he left another kiss on the crown of her head before standing up and setting her back down on the bed. "You should try to rest some more, a fitful sleep will not do. I will be only a short distance away if you need me."

As he went to step away from the bed, she subconsciously wrapped her slender fingers around his wrist, stopping him from moving any further away from her side. His eyes locked on hers, and for a brief moment, he could see the flash of fear that filled her beautiful brown irises before it disappeared again from sight. Her voice was soft and unsure as she spoke, and it broke his heart to hear the sound reverberate in his ear. "Stay with me, Will. Please, I beg of you."

Solace she was offered as her husband obliged with a nod and laid down beside her, wrapping his strong arms protectively around her small body. She closed her eyes and tried to let sleep take her away, tried to convince herself that a nightmare would not come if she was in his arms. But the dream had been so real, the scent of the blood, the powdery texture of the residue of the gun, the way Will had gasped for air. Whenever she closed her eyes, she only saw images of his death, a memory she had tried so hard to forget in these past few months since she had decided to return to him. And she could only hope, as she pretended to sleep for his benefit, that their excursion would be successful in the end. If anything happened to Will again or they failed, she couldn't see herself being able to go on alone.


End file.
